Haligonians gather to protest family separations in the United States

Motivated by accounts of children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, roughly 60 people gathered on Saturday in Halifax’s Grande Parade to protest against what they call an “inhumane” policy.

Many cities in the United States and over a dozen cities across Canada saw similar rallies on Saturday, held under the motto of “Families Belong Together.”

The rally aimed to condemn the policies of family separation and “zero tolerance” immigration, both of which have been adopted by the administration of United States President Donald Trump.

“The mood is about togetherness and about solidarity,” said Katharine MacDonald, organizer of the Halifax Families Belong Together Rally.

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The goals of the rally’s supporters are to push the Canadian government to condemn U.S. immigrant deportation and detention policies while also pushing the Canadian government to re-examine its own policies around immigrant detention.

Activists at the rally said Canada’s record of separating families is far from spotless.

“I want people to know that these injustices of immigration, deportation, people needing to seek asylum and it not being granted do happen in Canada as well,” said Claudia Castillo-Prentt, who attended the rally.

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Masuma Khan, the daughter of Afghanistan immigrants, says Canada has been separating Indigenous families for decades.

As examples, she pointed to residential schools – the last of which closed in the mid-90s – and the Sixties Scoop, a practice in which about 20,000 Indigenous children were taken from their homes and adopted into non-Indigenous families between 1951 and 1991.

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The event was peaceful and quiet except for when the Marine Corps Band, in town to play at the Halifax International Tattoo, attempted to gather in the Grande Parade.

The marines chose to leave the area after they were shouted down by attendees of the rally.

The rally had no speakers and encouraged attendees to take part in a postcard writing campaign.

“We wanted to host an opportunity for people to come make this contribution, to convey a message to parliament, which is really the best way for Canadians to take part and send a message about what’s happening in America,” MacDonald said.

The postcards will now be sent by the rally’s organizers to the region’s Members of Parliament.

With files from Jeremy Keefe and The Canadian Press