Union members, families rally to protest government’s inhumane treatment of immigrant families

By TIM ROWDEN

Editor

AFT Local 420 member Beth Connolly and her children turned out for last week’s Families Belong Together rally in downtown St. Louis. The event was one of 60 rallies, and vigils in cities throughout the country to protest the Trump Administration’s cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers.

The event was supported by the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Families Belong Together coalition

“As parents, it is unconscionable that the US government is actively tearing apart immigrant families,” Families Belong Together organizers said. “They are victims of violence, hunger, and poverty and our government’s actions re-violate them, causing untold damage. Children as young as 18 months are torn from their mothers’ arms by our own government. This is violent abuse and as concerned citizens and voters we state, unequivocally, that this is not in line with American values.”

Protesters promised further actions until leaders in Congress step in to address the actions of the Trump Administration, Border Patrol, ICE, and other federal immigration agencies.

“The outrage and opposition will only keep growing if the Administration continues this cruelty of separating families,” says Jess Morales Rocketto, political director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and chair of its ’We Belong Together’ immigration campaign. “Families belong together. This shouldn’t be up for debate. No one should accept babies being torn from their mothers’ arms or children being locked away from their parents. Congress has the power to stop this inhumane practice.”