A prayer vigil and rally to protest the separation of children from their parents as they cross the U.S.-Mexico border will be held on Sunday, June 24, 8-9 p.m., in Cherry Hill. The interfaith gathering will take place in front of Christ Our Light Church, 402 North Kings Highway.
Several local faith communities are involved. There will be parking in the Christ Our Light parking lot and in the lot of the nearby Unitarian Universalist Church at 401 North Kings Highway.
Organizers are urging participants to bring flags from different countries, candles, and posters expressing concern for children who have been taken from their parents by the U.S. government. Participants will be given information on political leaders to contact to protest the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy.
“Immigrant families are being separated primarily because the Trump administration in April began to prosecute as many border-crossing offenses as possible. This ‘zero-tolerance policy’ applies to all adults, regardless of whether they cross alone or with their children,” according to the Washington Post on June 19. “The Justice Department can’t prosecute children along with their parents, so the natural result of the zero-tolerance policy has been a sharp rise in family separations. Nearly 2,000 immigrant children were separated from parents during six weeks in April and May, according to the Department of Homeland Security.”