“Families
Belong Together” Rallies and Marches June 30
By Chris Hotchkin
At least 600 people, many wearing white to show solidarity
with immigrants, rallied in Fishel Park in Downers Grove on a very hot Saturday
afternoon, June 30. Many carried signs calling for families to stay together,
for our country to support immigrants, for love to trump hate. The rally was one of 700 rallies and marches
held nationwide on June 30 to protest the Trump administration’s policy of zero
tolerance at our borders, the taking of children from parents as they cross the
border to ask for asylum, and the holding of children in detention centers,
sometimes in cages. Even though Trump has signed an order ending the taking of
children from their parents, some 2000 children remain separated from their
parents and the administration seems to have no way to reunite them.
The Chicago march and rally reportedly had 60,000
participants, making it one of the largest in the country. In addition to
Chicago and Downers Grove, rallies and marches were held throughout Illinois in
Arlington Heights, Aurora, Barrington, Carbondale, Champaign, Elgin, Frankfort,
Glenview, Highland Park, Joliet, Macomb, Ottawa, Peoria, Quincy, Rockford, St.
Charles, Springfield, Sycamore, and Ullin.
The Downers Grove rally was organized by Anne Stava-Murray,
candidate for State Representative in the 81st District in Downers
Grove, along with Indivisible Naperville. Speakers at the rally included
Democratic State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia; Grace Arimura who was
interned with her family in a Japanese Internment camp during WWII while her
brother served in the U.S. Army; Moon Khan, community activist; Meggie
Hernandez-Zayas, survivor of domestic violence and advocate/educator; Prevail
Bonga, recent high school graduate and newly-minted activist whose Congolese
parents sought asylum in the U.S.,; Azam Nizamuddin, attorney, law professor
and president of the Muslim Bar Association; and Regina Brent, community
activist. In addition, brief and emotional stories of first-hand experiences of
parents and children separated at the border were read. Dianne McGuire of
Indivisible Naperville and her husband Fred Greenwood, and congressional
candidate Sean Casten, led the crowd in chants of “This is what Democracy Looks
Like,” “Immigrants are welcome here,” “Resist,” and “Never Again.” Speaker
Regina Brent led the crowd in singing “We Shall Overcome” to end the rally.
Many local candidates (all Democrats) were in attendance,
including Sean Casten for the 6th Congressional District, Laura
Ellman for State Senate District 21, Val Montgomery for State Representative
District 41, Lynn LaPlante for DuPage County Board Chair, Liz Chaplin for
County Board District 2, Irfan Ibrahim for Forest Preserve District 3, Jeff
Jacobson for 18th Judicial and Linda Davenport for 18th
Judicial.
