Ralliesacross the country, including Illinois, will take place Saturday. Attendees will call for the reunification of families separated at the US-Mexico border.
Linda Rivas is an attorney and executive director for Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Centerlocated in El Paso, Texas. She says two of the clients she's worked with have children who were separated and put in Chicago shelters. She says the mothers were confused about what that even meant. One asked if Chicago was the name of a shelter or a person. "That's the level of confusion," said Rivas.
Rivas will speak in Springfield at the rallyplanned near the Old State Capitol at 11 am. As to why she decided on Illinois out of all the rallies nationwide to attend, she said, "I think it's really important to bring some of the voices from the border into the interior." Rivas said while President Trump has walked back the "zero tolerance policy" - there need to be clearer plans in place for families to find each other. Similar rallies are also planned in Macomb, Champaign, and Chicago.
While Rivas said she believes the shelters in Chicago are doing the best job they can there to care for separated children, she prefers alternatives to detention and believes there are more just and financially sound ways to deal with immigrants and asylum-seekers. "I think migration is a human right. There are alternatives to detention, and these are not things people are speaking about," said Rivas. Illinois is one of 17 states to sue the Trump administration in hopes of reuniting families who were separated.
