WEST MICHIGAN - In Grand Rapids, Holland, Muskegon, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek and other cities across the country, people rallied in the Families Belong Together protest.
Despite a heat index of over 100 degrees, groups gathered across West Michigan and there were at least 22 demonstrations in Michigan and hundreds nationwide.
In Grand Rapids, event organizers estimate that there were over 600 people who gathered in Rosa Parks Circle. Organizers also passed out a petition to end Kent County's contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for detaining undocumented immigrants.
"When there's human rights violations, when our country's identity is being challenged, I think our leaders -- it's their role to step up to the plate and do what's right," said Sergio Cira-Reyes, an co-organizer of the Grand Rapids rally.
In Holland, the protesters marched around Centennial Park, holding signs and singing.
And in Muskegon, protestors chanted: "Who cares?" "We care!"
The national protest was held in Washington D.C. at Lafayette Square across from the White House. The marches also called on people to vote in November's midterm elections.
According to the event's organizers, the protest was "demanding that we reunite families and end family separation and detention." It was scheduled in response to the news that ICE was separating families at the Mexican-American border as a result of the zero-tolerance policy enacted by the Trump administration.
More than 2,000 children were separated from their families, and they are now being held at over 100 sites in 17 states.
President Trump ended up signing an executive order on June 20, ending the practice of separating families in order to prosecute immigrants crossing the border. On June 26, a federal judge has ordered that children should be reunited with their families within 30 days.
The marches were still held on Saturday to call for families to be reunited and to protest current immigration policy.
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