BOSTON (WHDH/AP) — Hundreds of activists flooded the halls of the Massachusetts State House Wednesday to protest and demand a change to President Trump’s now-reversed policy of separating children from families after they are detained crossing the U.S. border illegally.
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Protesters held signs that read “Families Belong Together,” “History is Watching” and “Children don’t belong in cages.”
They gathered outside the State House, temporarily shutting down Beacon Street before funneling into the building, gathering in front of the House chamber chanting “the people united with never be divided” in English and Spanish.
“As a mom, I can’t go to bed in good conscience knowing that there are other kids out there who do not have their parents,” one activist told 7News.
Organizers, including the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, say they want to call attention to the family separations as well as to urge Massachusetts lawmakers to approve protections for immigrants.
Gov. Charlie Baker spoke with 7News before the protests, saying that the current policy of separating children from their parents is “cruel and inhumane.”
“I refuse to believe that there’s not a way to keep our borders secure and, at the same time, ensure that you don’t have to separate kids from their parents,” he said.
Baker also reiterated his belief that Massachusetts should not be a “sanctuary state.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order later Wednesday ending the process of separating children from families.