About 100 people rallied against the Trump Administration’s immigration policies at a protest Thursday in front of Representative Mike Turner’s office in downtown Dayton.
Advocacy group Dayton Indivisible For All organized the so-called “We Belong Together” rally to denounce the separation of immigrant families seeking asylum at U.S. border crossings.
After Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the U.S. would enact a zero tolerance policy towards any person caught crossing the border illegally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers began routinely removing children from parental care while parents were criminally prosecuted.
Speaker and activist Gabriela Pickett said she’s concerned about the long term effects of these family separations.
“I know that there is no parent that can see a child in a cage and think that that is okay,” said Pickett. “This is going to create permanent psychological damage for these kids.”
Speakers also included Dayton City Commissioner Matt Joseph and Theresa Gasper, the Democratic candidate running against Representative Mike Turner for Ohio’s District 10 congressional seat.
In a statement, Representative Turner decried Dayton Indivisible For All as a "discredited,partisan,political organization."
The protest was one of nearly 80 “We Belong Together” rallies held nationwide Thursday.