'Fight ignorance': Thousands across Hawaii protest Trump's immigration policy

Thousands across nation, islands protest Trump's immigration policy
Published: Jul. 1, 2018 at 2:09 AM HST|Updated: Jul. 1, 2018 at 9:40 AM HST
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Protesters wielded signs with an array of messages on Saturday. (Image: Carol Lynn Enara Healy)
Protesters wielded signs with an array of messages on Saturday. (Image: Carol Lynn Enara Healy)
Celebrities, lawmakers and concerned citizens all took to the streets on Saturday to protest...
Celebrities, lawmakers and concerned citizens all took to the streets on Saturday to protest the separation of migrant families. (Image: Hawaii News Now)

HAWAII (HawaiiNewsNow) - In more than 700 cities across the nation on Saturday, including Honolulu, people marched to protest the Trump administration's "zero tolerance policy" at the Mexico border and put more pressure on the president as thousands of immigrant children remain separated from their parents.

On Oahu, the rally started at the Hawaii State Capitol and demonstrators marched to the federal building on Ala Moana Boulevard.

Protesters said they were moved by accounts of children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump has backed away from family separations amid bipartisan and international uproar. His "zero tolerance policy" led officials to take more than 2,000 children from their parents as they tried to enter the country illegally, most of them fleeing violence, persecution or economic collapse in their home countries.

Those marching Saturday demanded the government move quickly to reunite the families that were already divided.

"We are a state of immigrants, we are seeing those people legally seeking asylum being denied and being detained all across America. And we need to make sure we are standing against it everywhere," said Michael Golojuch Jr., a co-organizer of Saturday's protest.

On Twitter, President Donald Trump responded, offering support for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents.

Far from home, dozens of Hawaii school teachers joined forces with educators in Minneapolis to protest.

"It becomes a personal battle to really stand up for, not only ourselves as educators, but for the young people and families they we work with," said Kaneohe Elementary School teacher Chris Santomauro.

Santomauro said that his role as an educator played a vital part in his views on the president's immigration policy.

"Really for me, it was seeing images and hearing the audio of young children being ripped from their parents and separated and put in cages that made me feel like I had a responsibility to stand up and say - this is not right," Santomauro said.

Some protestors even called for ICE to be abolished. Wielding signs with messages like, "In America, love wins" and "Fight ignorance, not immigrants."

Several marchers both in and outside of Hawaii insist that they'll keep protesting until all the children are reunited with their families.

"The reason I am an educator, the reason I get up in the morning, is the belief in a better future," Santomauro said.

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