A group of undocumented immigrant mothers rallied in MacArthur Park in the city of Los Angeles the day before Mother’s Day, to protest against the hardline immigration policies pursued by the Trump administration. Immigration advocacy group, Cosecha, organized the rally, which called for the administration to give permanent protection to undocumented minors in the US, and for an end to separating families.
A statement from Cosecha on social media site, Facebook, claimed that millions of immigrant women live in fear of having their children separated from them. Undocumented mothers led dozens of people in a march through Los Angeles after singing songs of protest and sharing stories in MacArthur Park. The rally was a response to the continued effort by President Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigration, as well as lowering the number of legal immigrants in the US.
Recently, the Department of Justice announced plans to separate parents and children caught at the US border if the parents were trying to smuggle the child into the US. The plans signify a major change to the previous immigration policy, which ensured that families could stay together while awaiting the processing of their cases.
Earlier this month, Attorney General, Jeff Sessions told the 2018 spring conference of the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies that anyone smuggling a minor would be prosecuted and the child taken from them. He added that those who do not agree with the rule should not try to illegally bring their child over the US border.