Nashville march set against detention of immigrant families at the border

Jordyn Pair | The Tennessean

Tennessee groups are organizing marches in Nashville and 11 other cities across the state on Saturday to protest policies that support the detention of families at the border.

The End Family Detention March will begin at Fannie Mae Dees Park near Hillsboro Village and march to Belmont University.

"We're hoping one action, one march will be the catalyst to many more conversations," said Cathy Carrillo, a volunteer coordinator for Women's March - Power Together Tennessee. "This is our little piece of the lot of work that is to come."

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Protesters in DC rally for immigration rights Members of FIRM Action and CASA in Action advocacy groups rallied in Washington Wednesday to demand protections for migrant families separated at the border. (June 27)

The Nashville march aims to call attention to Belmont University board member Damon Hininger, who is the CEO of CoreCivic, a company that manages eight immigration detention facilities across the nation. The company is based in Nashville.

"We recognize that we can no longer let the dirty business that CoreCivic does in our own backyard go unseen," said Carrillo.

Participants will be calling for the removal of Hininger from the Belmont University Board of Trust.

CoreCivic operates a facility in Texas that houses children accompanied by their mothers. None of the company's facilities house children who are not under the supervision of a parent.

"[CoreCivic does] not enforce immigration laws, arrest anyone who may be in violation of immigration laws, or have any say whatsoever in an individual’s deportation or release," CoreCivic spokesman Steven Owen said in a statement.

"Our responsibility is to care for each person respectfully and humanely while they receive the legal due process that they are entitled to."

As of late Thursday afternoon, Belmont had not provided a statement to The Tennessean.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a zero tolerance policy in April. The policy directs federal prosecutors to criminally prosecute all adult migrants entering the country illegally. Because children cannot be held in the same detention facility as their parents, families were subsequently separated.

On June 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order changing the separation policy, sparking confusion as officials struggle to comply with the zero tolerance policy that calls for arrests while courts have ruled that the children cannot be jailed for extended periods.

More: Timeline: Immigrant children separated from families at the border

As the issue changed, so did protester platforms.

Saturday's platform also includes the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the decriminalization of immigration.

"It's a lot of topics, but our first step is calling out this private, for-profit business," Carrillo said.

The march will begin at 10 a.m. and go until noon. It is sponsored by Women's March - Power Together Tennessee, Indivisible, Showing Up for Racial Justice, The Nashville Peace and Justice Center, The American Muslim Advisory Council, No Exceptions Prison Collective, Murfreesboro Support Alliance, and Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood.

The march is part of a national day of action to protest family detention.