Silent Rally Over Family Separation Set For Hastings

HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, NY — Two local groups are organizing an event Friday to call attention to the effect of the U.S. "zero tolerance" immigration policy that separates families of illegal immigrants at the border so the parents can be criminally prosecuted.

What: A Silent Rally, with 75-100 strollers and a single sign that captures the number of children still separated from their families to visually express the unimaginable sense of loss having your child forcibly taken from you, of having no idea where they are or when you might even get to see them again.

Where: VFW, 558 Warburton Ave, Hastings on Hudson, New York

When: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. June 29

Sponsors: The rally is jointly sponsored by Hastings RISE and by the Rivertowns Migrant Children Support group. (#hastingsRISE)

Why: According to Karen Hammerness, Hastings RISE, “We wanted to capture the feelings of families and parents resulting from the recent policies of family separation and detention and to broadly illustrate a sense of absence: the glaring lack of compassionate from the current administration regarding families and children.” The organizers encourage all who see or walk by the rally to take photographs, post them on Facebook, Instragram and Twitter using the hashtag: #imaginetheloss and #enddetention.

PHOTO/ Lanning Taliaferro