Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "Our humanity is at stake," Alicia Keys tells a rally in Washington

Tens of thousands of people have joined nationwide protests across the US over the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies.

More than 630 events were planned, with protesters calling for migrant families split at the US border to be reunited.

Some 2,000 children remain separated from their parents, despite President Donald Trump bowing to public outrage and curtailing the policy.

Concerns remain that records were not kept linking parents and children.

Major protests took place in Washington DC, New York, and many other cities, using the hashtag #familiesbelongtogether. Marchers held placards calling for no more family separations and for the controversial immigration agency ICE to be abolished.

Trump defends 'smart, tough' agency

Analysis by Tara McKelvey, White House reporter, BBC News

The nation is deeply divided about immigration policy, and the president ignited the debate again with his tweets on Saturday.

From his golf resort at Bedminster, New Jersey, he defended the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Twitter, describing it as the "smartest, toughest and most spirited" of law-enforcement groups.

Meanwhile the movement to abolish ICE has been "going mainstream", according to some activists, and thousands have taken to the streets to protest the president's policies.

More than 100 protesters gathered near the president's resort ("My civility is locked in a cage", said one of their signs). I drove past the protesters on my way to the resort where I spent part of the day. As demonstrations heated up in New Jersey and across the US, the president was doubling down on his effort to promote his hardline policies.

"It goes against everything we stand for as a country," one protester, Paula Flores-Marques, 27, told Reuters in front of the White House in Washington DC. President Trump was out of town.

In New York they chanted, "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here". In Chicago, protesters marched to the local offices of federal immigration authorities.

The original Trump administration "zero tolerance" policy required authorities to arrest and detain anyone crossing the Mexico-US border illegally. That meant separating children from their parents and holding them separately.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What do Trump supporters make of the family separations?

Faced with a massive public outcry after recordings were published of distressed, crying children in detention centres, President Trump promised to "keep families together" in migrant detention centres.

But critics say the order did not address the issue of families already separated, leaving uncertainty over the fate of 2,342 children taken away from their parents between 5 May and 9 June alone. Earlier this week, a judge in California ordered the families to be reunited within 30 days.

It also still requires authorities to detain immigrant families, rather than release them with a court date to return.

What do the protesters want?

Organisers said they wanted to send a message to President Trump, prompted by concerns that he would renege on his executive order.

"We cannot slow down now since the court ruling alone isn't enough and could be overturned," said a statement on the movement's website.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Veronica is terrified she'll be separated from her daughter when she seeks asylum at the US border

As well as the reunification of parents and children, organisers called for an end to immigrant detention - even when families are kept together - and also planned to voice opposition to President Trump's travel ban targeting five majority-Muslim nations, which was upheld by the US Supreme Court earlier this week.

Demonstrations were also likely to focus on the shake-up of the Supreme Court after Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement last week, giving President Trump the opportunity to solidify a conservative majority on the country's top court.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Drone footage shows a "tent city" immigration centre

Much of the uproar over the separation policy came after news organisations reported on children being held in cells, converted warehouses and desert tents around the country.

President Trump on Saturday defended the agency that played a central role in carrying out the separations - the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He told its employees: "You are doing a fantastic job of keeping us safe by eradicating the worst criminal elements. So brave!"

Who is taking part?

Organisers issued instructions for people to dress in white, to represent peace and unity. The main march is taking place in Washington DC, but one of the people behind the movement, Anna Galland, said separate events were planned in 50 states.

Lead organisers of the march include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

A number of celebrities expressed their support, including actresses Julianne Moore, America Ferrara and Natalie Portman, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the hit musical Hamilton.

The protests are not the first against Mr Trump's immigration policy. Nearly 600 women were arrested on Thursday during a sit-in at a US Senate building against the government's migration policy. Actress Susan Sarandon was among those detained.

Many were draped in foil sheets to highlight the flimsy bedding given to migrant children held in border detention facilities.

What is the policy?

President Trump's "zero tolerance" policy has strong support among his key Republican support base. He has repeatedly defended the policy, saying it is simply enforcing the law.

Under a crackdown rolled out in May, all border crossers - including first-time offenders - are criminally charged and jailed.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "I have no information on my son" - one woman's story of being separated from her son

Migrant children are not permitted to be incarcerated with their parents and are kept in separate facilities maintained by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Under previous US administrations, undocumented immigrants caught crossing the border for the first time tended to be issued with court summonses.</s>{"id":56288369,"title":"Nationwide protests against Trump's immigration policies","duration":"2:45","description":"Tens of thousands rallied in more than 700 demonstrations across the nation to protest President Trump's immigration policies, urging him to reunite families separated at the Mexican border.","url":"/WNT/video/nationwide-protests-trumps-immigration-policies-56288369","section":"WNT","mediaType":"default"}</s>Outraged by stories of migrant children being ripped from their parents at the U.S. border, hundreds of thousands of people marched in cities across the country Saturday in protest of the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policies. More than 600 "Families Belong Together" protests and rallies were expected to be held as part of a nationwide day of action to demand separated migrant families be reunited. And photos from "Families Belong Together" protests show just how riled up voters are about Trump's treatment of immigrants.

Although President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month that promised to end the separation of immigrant families, many critics say it isn't enough. "[The] family separation crisis is not over," MoveOn.org spokesman Karthik Ganapathy told USA Today. "We have a situation where the Trump administration seems to be aiming to detain families."

As part of The Families Belong Together Coalition, MoveOn.org — in collaboration with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Leadership Conference, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and dozens of other national and local groups — are demanding the Trump administration reunite every separated migrant family and put an end to the practice of family detention and its "zero tolerance" immigration policy.

Thousands of protesters, many dressed in white as a sign of solidarity, crowded into Lafayette Square on Saturday as Washington, D.C.'s "Families Belong Together" event got underway just across from the White House. Holding signs decreeing the separation of migrant families, protestors of all ages chanted between speakers.

But "Families Belong Together" protests weren't just happening in major cities; protesters also gathered for marches and rallies in small towns and rural communities across the United States. Though rallies in heavily-populated metropolises may have looked quite different from those that occurred in small towns, the message was the same: Families belong together.

"Families Belong Together" protest events were even held in a number of international cities by expats living overseas. In Munich, protesters gathered outside the U.S. Consulate to demand the Trump administration increase its efforts to reunite separated families.

Law enforcement agents and immigration officials reportedly separated more than 2,300 migrant children from their parents as part of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy, which calls for every adult apprehended entering the country illegally to face criminal prosecution. Mounting public outrage, however, led President Trump to sign an executive order earlier this month that sought to bring at least a temporary end to his administration's family separation policy.

But Trump's executive order didn't address how his administration planned to reunite already torn apart families. According to NBC News, more than 2,000 migrant children are still separated from their parents.

More to come...</s>It’s been nearly two months since the Trump administration implemented its “zero tolerance” policy toward undocumented immigrants, prompting the separation of thousands of children from their parents.

And on Saturday, massive crowds are expected to take to the streets to say loud and clear that “Families Belong Together.”

The main march will take place in Lafayette Square in Washington, but hundreds of marches, protests and rallies are scheduled across the country to call for the immediate reunification of migrant families and an end to family detentions and separations.

Several rallies and marches are also set to be held in Southern California. Demonstrators will descend to Los Angeles City Hall for a march that will get underway at 11 a.m. The program will feature a wide range of speakers, including Mayor Eric Garcetti, Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Kevin De Leon, singer-songwriter John Legend and actor Eugenio Derbez.

According to organizers, protesters have three demands:
• They want separated migrant families to be reunited immediately.
• They want the government to end family detentions.
• And they want the Trump administration to end its zero tolerance policy.

Demonstrators have been asked to wear white and carry signs with messages such as “Keep Families Together” or “Familias Unidas, No Dividas.”

And Saturday’s protests are just the latest. On Thursday, more than 1,000 female activists marched through Washington and ended up in a Senate office building to protest the White House’s policy.

According to US Capitol Police, 575 of them were arrested.

The crisis has been building for weeks

More than 2,500 undocumented children were separated from their parents in the weeks since the zero-tolerance policy took effect. Under the policy, any adult caught crossing the border illegally faced prosecution, and their children were sent to federal shelters all over the United States.

Outrage over the separations has been at a fever pitch for weeks. The anger hasn’t abated either, even after President Donald Trump signed an executive order June 20 reversing the family separation policy.

Six days after that order was signed, only six children had been reunited with their parents — meaning more than 2,000 children were still in limbo, feeding the furor and raising questions about whether the government actually has a plan to reunify families.

A federal judge this week ordered a halt to most family separations at the border and the reunification of families. Within 14 days, children under 5 were to be back with their parents, and within 30 days, children 5 and older were to be reunited with theirs.

But Families Belong Together protesters don’t want to wait.

Event organizers said Saturday’s protests are about addressing an ethical issue.

“This is not left or right,” said Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn.org, one of the organizations leading Saturday’s protests. “It is right and wrong.”

Galland said she and US Rep. Pramila Jayapal put out a call for protests less than two weeks ago, and they’ve been “overwhelmed” by the response.

Rallies will take place in 750 cities big and small all over the country, Galland said, as people stand up for the rights of migrant families.

“I think if you asked someone on the street, ‘Is it a political question whether we should tear babies out of their mother’s arms?’ they would say, ‘No, that’s a moral question,’ ” Galland told CNN’s Christi Paul. “And this is a moment of moral outrage.”

“This is beyond politics,” the Washington state Democrat said Saturday morning. According to her, the rallies are about keeping the issue “at the front of the agenda” and sending a message to Trump that he can change his policy immediately.

“You don’t put kids in cages,” she said. “You don’t separate breastfeeding babies from their mothers. You don’t put asylum-seekers in prison, and we’re calling for an end to that today.”</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands gathered in front of the White House on Saturday to protest the Trump administration's immigration policies, which have separated children from parents at the U.S-Mexico border and sparked plans for military-run detention camps.

Joined by protesters nationwide, people crowding downtown Washington waved signs and chanted "shame" as religious leaders and activists urged the administration to be more welcoming of foreigners and to reunite families.

"It goes against everything we stand for as a country," protester Paula Flores-Marques, 27, said of President Donald Trump's policies. Trump was out of town.

Trump says illegal immigration fosters crime and he implemented a "zero tolerance" policy in May to prosecute all immigrants apprehended for entering illegally. That led to the separation of more than 2,000 children from their parents, which sparked an outcry this month, even from some allies of the Republican president.

In a rare retreat on an issue that fires up his conservative base, Trump on June 20 ordered officials to detain families together.

Protesters also gathered in New York, Los Angeles and scores of other U.S. cities. In Chicago, thousands gathered to march toward the local offices of federal immigration authorities.

Organizers estimated 30,000 people had gathered in central Washington. The peaceful protest appeared to be the largest pro-immigration demonstration in the U.S. capital since at least 2010, when activists rallied to pressure then-President Barack Obama and Congress to overhaul the U.S. immigration system.

"We are here because children being held in detention don't have a voice," said Helen LaCroix, 40, a mother of two from Washington.

A federal judge has ordered families be reunited and the administration asked the military to house immigrant families, leading the Pentagon to mull the construction of soft-sided camp facilities. [nL1N1TU013]

Since taking office in 2017, Trump has overseen an increase in arrests of people suspected of being in the country illegally. His administration is also approving fewer family visas. [nL1N1O72JC] [nL1N1O51GS]

Immigration has been on the rise in America and across much of the developed world for decades, roiling politics in recent years across Germany, Britain and the United States.

Trump, who on Saturday was at a golf club he owns in Bedminster, New Jersey, criticized the handful of Democrats who have urged for an elimination of the U.S. agency that enforces immigration law, which is known as ICE.

"I have watched ICE liberate towns from the grasp of [criminal gangs]," Trump said on Twitter.

Immigrants made up about one in 20 U.S. residents in 1970. By 2016, their share rose to about one in seven, according the U.S. Census Bureau.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.</s>(CNN) — Demonstrators are expected to gather in cities across the United States on Saturday to protest the White House’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that has prompted the separations and detentions of migrant families.

Here’s what you need to know about the Families Belong Together rallies.

What is it?

 The Families Belong Together event is billed by organizers as a nationwide day of action to protest the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies and call for the reunification of families separated and detained as a result of those policies’ implementation.

Hundreds of marches are expected to cap several weeks of outrage over the policies that have resulted in more than 2,500 immigrant children being separated from their parents in the weeks since the federal government started prosecuting anyone who crosses the border illegally.

Who is organizing the event?

 MoveOn, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the National Domestic Workers Alliance are the lead partners sponsoring the event, according to the FAQ on MoveOn’s website.

They’re joined by dozens of other organizations lending a hand, too, per the Families Belong Together website. Amnesty International USA, the Anti-Defamation League, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Women’s March are among them.

What do demonstrators want?

 According to a document outlining the Families Belong Together messaging strategy, protesters have three primary demands:
• They want separated migrant families to be reunited immediately
• They want the government to end family detentions
• And they want the Trump administration to end its “zero tolerance” immigration policy

Despite the fact that President Trump signed an executive order last week reversing his administration’s family-separation policy, more than 2,000 children were still waiting to be reunited with their parents as of June 26, causing further anger and accusations that the administration is taking too long to take action.

“Since the beginning, President Trump has shown callous disregard toward mothers, fathers, and children who only want to find safety,” Amnesty International USA’s tactical campaigns manager Ashley Houghton said in a press release.

“Last week’s executive order presents a false choice to people seeking protection. Detaining families is not the solution to ending family separation. Every family approaching the border must be treated with dignity and respect,” Houghton said. “The administration must end the cruel and unnecessary practices of family separation and detention.”

Where are the marches taking place?

 The main march is taking place in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., across the street from White House. Thousands of people have indicated they will attend or expressed interest in attending the event on Facebook.

Hundreds of other rallies are being held by local organizers in all 50 states. Protesters will show up in US cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Dallas, as well as in San Juan, Puerto Rico. There are also a handful of marches slated to take place in international cities such as Munich, Germany.

What will happen at the events?

 The groups are asking march attendees to wear white as a “striking visual symbol” to bring participants together and “channel historic social justice movements unified by one color of clothing,” the FAQ says.

Demonstrators are also asked to bring their friends and a sign with a messages expressing support for the reunification of separated families, bearing messages like, “Keep Families Together” or “Familias Unidas No Divididas.”

MoveOn has additional information and resources available on its website.

After June 30, organizers say they’ll continue working until their demands are met. The end goal is to change the way immigrant families are treated in the years to come.

“We will keep working to re-imagine a new future where our families and loved ones are together to live freely and with dignity,” the groups say, “not separated or put in camps or cages.”</s>Protesters gathered in major cities and small towns across the United States to denounce President Trump's immigration policies.

The "Families Belong Together" marches were planned in response to the administration's policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border.

In Washington, thousands gathered despite the sweltering summer heat. They carried umbrellas, fans and water bottles. Many wore white, channeling a practice of solidarity that is historically used in social justice movements, NPR's Windsor Johnston reports. Others carried foil sheets, mimicking what were meant to serve as blankets for detained children.

The rally became a family event, with children clutching signs and parents telling NPR that to protest is to be a part of the American fabric — especially before Independence Day.

One woman told NPR's Cecilia Lei and Adhiti Bandlamudi that she felt conflicted about the meaning of July 4 this year because of the Trump administration's treatment of immigrants. Still, she dressed her daughter in red, white and blue to keep a conversation on patriotism going.

At the White House, crowds grew silent as loudspeakers blasted a recording of babies and children crying.

And as people walked down Pennsylvania Avenue, past the Trump International Hotel, protesters shouted "Shame!" and booed.

A roster of celebrities and politicians spoke, echoing a national cry among protesters to end Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policies and immediately reunite families who were separated at the border.

Alicia Keys brought her 7-year-old son and was close to tears on stage as she told a sea of people, "I couldn't even imagine not being able to find him. I couldn't even imagine being separated from him or scared about how he is being treated. So this is all of our fight. Because if it can happen to any child, it can happen to my child and your child and all of our children." Then she read the letter of a mother whose son was held in immigration detention.

Actress Diane Guerrero, widely known for her role on Orange Is the New Black, spoke about the deportation of her family members. "Even some 17 years later, I still remember how it felt when I first cried out for my parents and they couldn't answer."

Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the Broadway musical Hamilton, performed a lullaby that he had written, telling the crowd it was for parents and children who had been torn apart. "We're not going to stop until [parents] can sing them to their kids again," he said, before singing, "You will come of age with our young nation. We'll bleed and fight for you. We'll make it right for you."

The stage was not just reserved for adults. Children shared their messages of pain and compassion with the crowd. "I wish I could give you a big hug," a young girl read from a letter she wrote.

At Boston City Hall Plaza, Sen. Elizabeth Warren deplored the president and Immigration and Customs Enforcement as an agency. "President Trump seems to think that the only way to have immigration rules is to rip parents from their families, is to treat rape victims and refugees like terrorists and to put children in cages. This is ugly. This is wrong. And this is not the way to run our country." She called for ICE to be replaced by "something that reflects our morality and that works."

In California, Sen. Kamala Harris crafted a speech around the words "We are better than this," and John Legend, from behind a piano, sang a brand new song about staying engaged: "Heaven knows I'm not helpless. But what can I do? ... I can't just sit and pray."

In Houston, people chanted "No baby jails!" In Chicago, protesters marched to the ICE's field office and erected tents. In New York, demonstrators on the Brooklyn Bridge chanted "Shame!" In Atlanta, someone carried a cage with baby dolls inside.

Around 4 a.m., before Saturday protests officially started, Trump tweeted from his golf club in New Jersey: "To the great and brave men and women of ICE, do not worry or lose your spirit. You are doing a fantastic job of keeping us safe by eradicating the worst criminal elements. So brave!"

He added later in the day, "When people come into our Country illegally, we must IMMEDIATELY escort them back out without going through years of legal maneuvering. Our laws are the dumbest anywhere in the world."

Protesters in Bedminster congregated near his golf club with signs and costumes.

With additional reporting by Windsor Johnston, Cecilia Lei and Adhiti Bandlamudi.</s>Tens of thousands of demonstrators in New York City Saturday protested against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

An estimated 30,000 protesters marched from Manhattan to Brooklyn with pins and signs that read, “Abolish ICE,” joining more than 700 other rallies across the United States organized by the Families Belong Together-Freedom for Immigrants March.

“I’m here because I’m disgusted, outraged, and frightened by our government,” Lisa Zieger, a 66-year-old Newark resident, said. “I’ve never felt so personally threatened before. It’s important to come out, to put your body on the line.”

Democratic-socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the political upshot who defeated House leader Rep. Joseph Crowley (R-NY) this week, marched through Queens with approximately 2000 protesters.

“I am confident and hopeful that it will not last long and that it will not last forever, because of every single individual who’s on this block today,” the 28-year-old told attendees.

“I was proud to join @QueensBarrios today for our #KeepFamilesTogether march in Jackson Heights and Corona, some of the most diverse neighborhoods in the US (and the world!),” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted after attending the event.

The Democrat-socialist’s website on the issue of immigrationr reads :

As overseen by the Trump administration, ICE operates with virtually no accountability, ripping apart families and holding our friends and neighbors indefinitely in inhumane detention centers scattered across the United States. [I] believes that if we are to uphold civic justice, we must abolish ICE and see to it that our undocumented neighbors are treated with the dignity and respect owed to all people, regardless of citizenship status.

Addressing a citizenship event at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio praised demonstrators for protesting against the Trump administration’s immigration policies and re-upped his support for abolishing ICE. “We need comprehensive immigration reform and we need new agencies to replace ICE,” the mayor told attendees. “There’s a way to handle immigration properly, and we have to start working for that day.”

The 2020 hopeful told WNYC radio’s Brian Lehrer on Friday that the agency should be dismantled.

Later, de Blasio tweeted his support for abolishing ICE. “Every country needs reasonable law enforcement on their borders. ICE is not reasonable law enforcement. ICE is broken, it’s divisive and it should be abolished,” the mayor said.</s>(AP Photo/Don Ryan). In this Wednesday, June 27, 2018, photo, Kate Sharaf, who is spearheading a small group of stay-at-home mothers to organize an immigration rally, gestures to other volunteers while working at home in Portland, Ore. The small group ...

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer). Protesters chant slogans outside a Federal court during a demonstration calling for the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and demand changes in U.S. immigration policies, Friday, June 29, 2018, in New...

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer). Protesters chant slogans as they march during a demonstration calling for the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and demand changes in U.S. immigration policies, Friday, June 29, 2018, in New York.

(AP Photo/Don Ryan). In this Wednesday, June 27, 2018, photo, a small group of stay-at-home mothers, with children at their sides, work to organize an immigration rally in Portland, Ore. The small group of mothers organizing Saturday's rally in Portlan...

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer). Protesters chant slogans outside a Federal court during a demonstration calling for the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and demand changes in U.S. immigration policies, Friday, June 29, 2018, in New...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Liberal activists, parents and first-time protesters motivated by accounts of children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border plan to rally in hundreds of cities nationwide Saturday to press President Donald Trump's administration to reunite the families quickly.

More than 600 marches could draw hundreds of thousands of people across the country, from immigrant-friendly cities like Los Angeles and New York City to conservative Appalachia and Wyoming under the banner Families Belong Together.

Though many who show up will be seasoned anti-Trump demonstrators, others will be new to immigration activism, including parents who say they feel compelled to show up after heart-wrenching accounts of children forcibly taken from their families as they crossed the border illegally. In Portland, Oregon, for example, several stay-at-home moms have organized their first rally while caring for young kids.

"I'm not a radical, and I'm not an activist," said Kate Sharaf, a Portland co-organizer. "I just reached a point where I felt I had to do more."

Immigrant advocacy groups say they're thrilled - and surprised - to see the issue gaining traction among those not tied to immigration.

"Honestly, I am blown away. I have literally never seen Americans show up for immigrants like this," said Jess Morales Rocketto, political director at the National Domestic Workers Alliance, which represents nannies, housekeepers and caregivers, many of whom are immigrants. "We just kept hearing over and over again, if it was my child, I would want someone to do something."

Saturday's rallies are getting funding and support from the American Civil Liberties Union, MoveOn.org, the National Domestic Workers Alliance and The Leadership Conference. But local organizers are shouldering on-the-ground planning, many of them women relying on informal networks established during worldwide women's marches on Trump's inauguration and its anniversary.

Tyler Houlton, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, welcomed interest in the immigration system and said only Congress has the power to change the law.

"We appreciate that these individuals have expressed an interest in and concern with the critical issue of securing our nation's borders and enforcing our immigration laws," Houlton said. "As we have indicated before, the department is disappointed and frustrated by our nation's disastrous immigration laws and supports action."

In Portland, Sharaf and other mothers who organized the rally hope to attract 5,000 people.

Right-wing activists with the group Patriot Prayer also have a permit to march later in the day Saturday and the Portland Police Bureau said Friday they planned to have a heavy police presence.

Sharaf and co-organizer Erin Conroy have coordinated with immigrant advocacy groups.

"This is not my wheelhouse," Conroy said. "As far as I'm concerned, this is a national emergency that we all need to be focused on right now."

That passion is heartening for the broader anti-Trump coalition, which hopes marches will attract people who have otherwise been on the sidelines, said David S. Meyer, a political science professor at the University of California, Irvine, who has authored books on U.S. political protest.

"There are people who have all kinds of other grievances or gripes with the Trump administration and they're quite happy to use this one as the most productive and salient for the moment," he said.

Immigration attorney Linda Rivas said groups have met with U.S. authorities, congressional representatives and other leaders to discuss an escalating immigration crackdown that they say began decades ago. But the family separation policy has been a watershed for attracting a broader spectrum of demonstrators, she said.

"To finally have people on board wanting to take action, marching, taking to the streets, it's been motivating for us as advocates because we have to keep going," Rivas said.

Taxin reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press reporter Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report. Follow Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus. Follow Taxin on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ataxin

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>CASA in Action and the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) hold a rally to 'demand protections for the men, women and children separated at the border as a direct result of Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., on June 27, 2018.

Thousands of people are expected to descend upon Washington, D.C., and all 50 states on Saturday to protest the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy on immigration that's sparked widespread debate after more than 2,000 children were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

"(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.

The more than 628 rallies held in response to President Donald Trump's controversial policies – including family detention – are being organized by the Families Belong Together Coalition, which includes the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the Leadership Conference, MoveOn.org and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU said 300,000 alone will be in attendance in Washington, while MoveOn.org said Wednesday they expect hundreds of thousands of protesters in the nation's capital.

Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department declined to comment on crowd estimates for Saturday. The National Parks Service granted a permit Tuesday for an estimated 50,000 people for the nation's capital rally.

Each state is expected to host at least one event, with some states, such as Texas and Massachusetts, participating in upward of 30 events. California anticipates being the state with the most events – at least 80 on Saturday, according to the Families Belong Together website.

Why are these protests happening?

The rallies are in response to a widespread desire among 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.

A June 18 CBS News poll showed 67 percent of Americans found separating undocumented immigrant children and parents at the border "unacceptable."

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said she has been engaging with organizers ahead of Saturday's demonstrations, and many are concerned about the direction of the country.

"The separation policy here, separating children from their parents and detaining them in internment camps and caging them is something that you would think would happen in tyrannical, authoritarian countries, not in a country that says that it is a democracy, not in the United States of America," Weingarten said.

Fabiola Perez, 24, said she will be protesting in Winston-Salem, North Carolina because of her personal history with the U.S. immigration process.

"I have been in those kids' shoes. I’m currently a DACA recipient; my parents brought me to the U.S. when I was only 7 years old. I had to cross the border and we failed multiple times, my little brother, my mom and I were detained by the immigration officials," said Perez, a sales operations coordinator at PepsiCo. "It was scary not knowing what to expect and also not knowing the language at the time. Thankfully, we were always kept together, which helped my brother and I feel safe."

Perez said she's also protesting as the mother of a 6-year-old son.

"Just the thought of getting my son ripped away from while only trying to get a better life for him would not only devastate me but it would definitely traumatized him," Perez said.

Episcopalian Chaplain Jenifer Gamber, 52, will rally at the Keep Families Together Coalition's event in Washington, D.C. Gamber said protesting sends a strong signal to elected officials about the public's opinions on immigration.

More: Trump administration racing the clock to reunite 2,000 children with parents

More: 'They killed my mother, killed my father:' Central Americans risk lives to reach US border

"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.

Despite the uptick in multiple large-scale protests since Trump's inauguration, such as the Women's March and the March for Our Lives, Weingarten said activists are not feeling fatigued.

"People are just furious with the level of cruelty that is represented by this administration," Weingarten said. "There’s a sense of determination to try to make this difference."
Tens of thousands of people participate in nationwide protests across the United States over the Trump administration's immigration policies. Over 630 events are planned, with protesters calling for migrant families split at the United States–Mexico border to be reunited.