DALTON, Ga. — When Stephanie Borrillo heard about the “Families Belong Together” even in Dalton, the Rome resident says she had to come.

“I have a baby,” she said with her eyes tearing up on Saturday. “I can’t imagine my baby being ripped from my arms the way some parents are having their babies taken from them at the border.”

Borrillo was one of about 100 people who gathered in the parking lot of Delray Farms Fresh Market on East Walnut Avenue to demand that the federal government reunite children separated from their parents when they crossed the border from Mexico.

Protesters held up signs reading “End Family Detention,” “Free the Children,” “Do Unto Others,” “Seeking Asylum Is Not Illegal” and “Free Hugs.” They sang and prayed in both Spanish and English.

The rally was organized by the Coalition of Latino Leaders (CLILA), a Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization and was part of a nationwide series of protests against federal immigration policies.

“We want our voices to be heard,” said CLILA President America Gruner. “We are saying that this isn’t right. We are speaking for all of the children who don’t have a voice.”

President Donald Trump has signed an order ending the policy of separating children from their families. But Gruner said the protest was calling not only for reuniting children with parents but for ending the president’s “zero tolerance” policy of prosecuting anyone caught illegally crossing the border.

Joe Borrillo said he does not believe the government should keep families of those seeking asylum in detention centers while they are waiting for their cases to be heard.

“Many of those detention centers are privatized. People are making money off that. I don’t think it’s right to have families in detention centers similar to the internment camps the Japanese were kept in during World War II when they should be allowed to live freely until such time as they can have their due process,” he said.

Gruner said that if the government is worried that people won’t show up for their immigration hearings they have alternatives to detention, such as putting people on electronic ankle bracelets to monitor them.

Amy Ashbridge came from Rydal to take part in the event.

“I definitely think families should be kept together,” she said. 

Antoine Simmons, president of the Dalton-Whitfield NAACP branch, says that when in ancient Egypt the pharaoh became oppressive, God sent Moses to deliver the Jewish people out of bondage. He says that since then, when governments have become oppressive, God has sent men and women “with the voice of Moses” to point out the wrongs.

“We’ve made out voices heard. Separating families is wrong,” he said. “But out voices speak louder at the ballot box.”

Simmons urged those at the protest to register and vote this November.

“It is time for us to rise up and take over,” he said.

The event did draw some counter-protesters. A man wearing a “Support Trump” T-shirt stood silently among the crowd. Another counter-protester, a woman, attempted to speak, but was blocked by Gruner.