Rallies Saturday throughout the Bay Area protesting separation of families

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - Thousands of protesters marched and rallied across California Saturday, speaking out against the separation of children from their families at the U.S. border under the Trump administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy.  More than a dozen protests took place in the Bay Area, including San Francisco where thousands marched from Dolores Park to city hall.

They expressed outrage and anger. “The way you hear the government talk about these children, they keep better track of their backpacks and pens than they do of the children, and children should not be caged,” said Sandra Halladey of San Francisco.

Stefani Berger wore a tin-foil wrap around her soldiers, pointing out t was the same material children are using as blankets while in detention. “The fact that this is their blanket, that they're sleeping on the floor and the inhumanity of putting them in these concentration camps, which is really what they are,” she said.

Under enormous public pressure, last week the Trump administration stopped separating immigrant families at the border, but at least 2,000 children remain in detention facilities across the country, without their parents.  There is currently no clear plan in place to reunite them with their families.

In the crowd at Civic Center was a group of Nicaraguan immigrants speaking out against the administration’s plan to limit asylum claims from Central America.  They held signs bearing the names of more than 200 people who’ve died in civil unrest there since April. “To turn a blind eye to the crisis of countries like Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, I think it is completely unfair,” said Paola Zuniga of Oakland.

Also at the rally, organizers helped register people to vote, turning their attention to the midterm elections.  They’re hoping the outrage on the streets translates into political change this November.