Washington D.C. [USA]: Citizens across the United States are planning to hold massive protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and family separations on Saturday.
A coalition of groups has announced a march called ‘Families Belong Together’, which is scheduled to take place in Washington D.C., along with other events planned across the US.
The coalition includes the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), MoveOn.org and the National Domestic Workers Alliance, The Hill reported.
The organisers have asked protestors to wear ‘white’ clothes to display ‘unity’.
The protest at Washington D.C., which will take place in Lafayette Square near the White House, is scheduled to feature various speakers, including Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The organisers of the coalition group have stated that there are 710 events planned across the country to protest against Trump’s immigration policies.
On Thursday, a sit-in protest called #WomenDisobey was held to oppose Trump’s immigration policies at the Hart Senate Office building on Capitol Hill.
The event was trending on social media, wherein the demonstrators used the hashtag – #FamiliesBelongTogether.
On a related note, the US Capitol Police on Thursday arrested 575 people, including a congresswoman for “unlawfully protesting” against Trump’s “Zero Tolerance Policy”, which treats illegal border crossings as criminal offences.
Trump signed an executive order to “keep families together” on June 20, amid the massive backlash over his administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the US-Mexico border.
The US president defended his policy of separating children from their families who have been illegally crossing the southern US-Mexico border, saying, to prosecute parents for illicit entry, “you have to take the children away.”
In April, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new “zero-tolerance” policy on the border to prosecute immigrants for entering the country illegally.
By virtue of this policy, families who crossed together illegally would in some cases be separated, prompting a sweeping outcry from Democrats and immigration advocates.
Nearly 2,000 children were taken away from their parents in a six-week period in April and May under the new Trump administration policy, according to several media reports.
Parents have since been arrested and placed in quick federal court proceedings near the border, while children are placed in shelters. (ANI)