WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of people descended on cities from coast-to-coast Saturday in "Families Belong Together" rallies to protest the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy that left more than 2,000 children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In the nation's capital, thousands poured into Lafayette Square, across from the White House, to chant “We care” and “No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA.”
Protesters waved signs in English and Spanish. The slogan on one English sign demanded, “Where are the children?”
One sign, sounding like a mother's stern rebuke, read in Spanish, “Trump te calmas o te calmo.” Translation: "Calm down, Trump, or I will calm you down."
Another sign said, “Melania & Ivanka, stop the child abuse.”
While President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump avoided the chants in Washington, the protests followed them to their weekend retreat in Bedminster, N.J.
Only a few miles from Trump National Golf Course, more than 100 protesters lined the side of a major New Jersey highway waving anti-Trump signs and chanting, “Where are the children!”
Jack Gavin, of West Caldwell, N.j., handed out miniature copies of the U.S. Constitution, “Facts Matter” pins and cold drinks. He said he also planned to attend rallies in Newark and Clifton,N.J.
In Washington, Shelley Kohl, a retired business owner from Johnson City, Tennessee, said she does not usually engage in politics, but the images of children being separated from their parents motivated her to travel to Washington for today’s protests.
“Kids don’t belong in cages. Families don’t belong in cages, and kids absolutely don’t belong being removed from their families,” Kohl said.
In Atlanta, Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights icon who once marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King, roused the crowd with by imploring the protesters: "Don't give up, don't give in — keep marching."
The Democratic congressman said every American — Asian, black, white, Hispanic — all trace their heritage to immigrants.
"Maybe our foremothers and forefathers all came to this land in different ships, but we are all in the same boat now," he said.
He also emphasized the political underpinning of the nationwide rallies, calling on demonstrators to make their voices heard in November.
"We've got to get out and vote like we never voted before," he said, prompting chants from the crowd," Vote! Vote! Vote!"
In New York City, protesters at a Manhattan park chanted "shame!" and "shut detention down" as they geared up to march across the Brooklyn bridge to Cadman Plaza, near the federal courthouse.
Episcopalian Chaplain Jenifer Gamber, 52, said she hoped to send a strong signal to elected officials about the public's opinions on immigration.
"I am appalled at the Trump administration’s treatment of people seeking asylum in the United States that criminalizes asylum-seeking and separates families," Gamber said.
Organizers in the Families Belong Together Coalition included the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the ACLU, Leadership Conference and MoveOn.org.
"(The) family separation crisis is not over. We have a situation where the Trump administration seems to be aiming to detain families," said Karthik Ganapathy, a MoveOn.org spokesman.
Each state is hosting at least one event, with some states, such as Texas and Massachusetts, participating some 30 events. California was on track to host at least 80 on Saturday, according to the Families Belong Together website.
In Boston, the “Rally against Family Separation” was beginning with a morning march from City Hall to Boston Common, where a large rally will take place. The protest was timed with other protests nationwide and is also meant to oppose Trump’s ban on travelers from certain Muslim-majority nations.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Joe Kennedy III, both Democrats, will be among the attendees.
A second demonstration Saturday afternoon was expected to begin with a march from Wellington Common Park to the South Bay House of Correction, a county jail in Boston which houses undocumented immigrants apprehended by federal officials.
Rallies were also underway at mid-morning in El Paso and Atlanta, and communities big and small.
Among the protests:
— In Louisville, Ky., protesters sought refuge from thesweltering heat arond Metro Hall. Art Baltes stood out from the crowd, pacing back and forth under the sunshine with a banner in hand: “Immigrants and Refugees Welcome.”
Baltes, of Louisville, said his Catholic faith spurred him to attend the rally. “That’s exactly where it starts — our faith,” he said. “We just want people to know that people in this town support immigrants and refugees.”
— In Nashville, Abigail Taylor, a 37-year-old mother of three, said she “can’t in good conscious pretend like nothing is happening and have my family go about like nothing is wrong.”
“The idea of someone taking them from me without saying goodbye, and them thinking I abandoned them, breaks my heart," she said.
— In York, Pennsylvania, John Terlazzo sat cross-legged wearing a sign bearing a quote from Buddha that said, "Hatred never ceases by hatred." Asked why he was attending the rally, he said, “Because I’m sane.This whole regime is an atrocity. And I don’t care who you are, you don’t mess with children.”
— In Ithaca, New York, about 500 people turned at on the Ithaca Commons to protest Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policies and family separation.
Among the signs was one reading: Nazi's separated families. We shall not."
— In Dallas, hundreds turned out downtown Dallas to call for a clear plan to reunify families separated the administration policy.
The protesters, many donning white T-shirts and clothing, carried protest signs and gathered in mass outside Dallas city hall.
One protest sign read, “Compassion not cruelty” while another said simply: “Vote.” Another sign said, “November is coming.”
Protest organizer Michelle Wentz says opposition to the policy has seemed to cross political party lines. She called it a “barbaric and inhumane” policy.
The nationwide rallies were in response to a widespread desire among many Americans to take action against Trump's strict immigration policies, said Lorella Praeli, ACLU director of immigration policy and campaigns.
"This is our country, and if there is something happening that takes us in the wrong direction, we can’t stay silent," Praeli said. "It’s on us to hold our elected officials accountable, to hold our president accountable and to demand action. So silence in this moment is complicity."
After Trump signed an executive order last week ending the family separations, a California judge ordered the Trump administration Tuesday evening to reunite the migrant families it had separated.
There are 2,047 children that must be placed in the same facility as their parents within the next two to four weeks. But U.S. law and a series of court rulings that limit the amount of time minors can be held in detention will further complicate those reunions.
More: Illegal immigration: Separating the facts from fiction
More: As thousands prepare to rally, here's where things stand on immigration
A June 18 CBS News poll showed 67 percent of Americans found separating undocumented immigrant children and parents at the border "unacceptable."
Contributing: Nick Muscavage, in Bedminister, N.J.; Jordyn Pair, in Nashville; Shannon Hall, in Louisville; Matt Steekcer, in Ithaca, N.Y., and Samantha Ruland, in York, Pa., USA TODAY Network
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