By Louis Casiano, Contributing writer

Opponents of the Trump Administration’s policy of separating families detained at the U.S.-Mexico border will gather at Caesar E. Chavez Park on Saturday as part of a nationwide protest demanding that children be reunited with their parents.

The #FamiliesBelongTogether march comes amid the uproar over the separation of more than 2,300 migrant families between May 5 and June 9. The protest is being sponsored by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, MoveOn, and several other groups.

Events will be held in cities and towns across the country, including Boston, Washington D.C., San Juan, Puerto Rico and local sites such as Laguna Beach, Los Angeles and Redondo Beach.

The Long Beach Immigrants Rights Coalition, the Greater Long Beach Interfaith Community Organization and Long Beach Forward are sponsoring Saturday’s rally at the park.

“We want to see families reunited,” said James Suazo, associate director for Long Beach Forward. “Ultimately, we want to call attention to the role Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] has played since it was first created. We don’t believe that this is something that our government should be enforcing… where their role is to detain and separate these families and create trauma and further harm.”

Several guest speakers, including Congressman Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, are expected to attend. Following the rally, protesters will march to the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building

Belmont Shore resident Elizabeth Sharma, 36, said she will be at Saturday’s gathering to voice her anger at Trump’s immigration policy.

“I’ve been enraged by so many things that have gone on under this administration, but nothing has gotten me so emotionally upset and frustrated and angry as this,” said Sharma, who has two sons, 2 and a 10-month-old. “I just found myself in tears every single day thinking about these kids and thinking about the inhumanity of it all. I can’t stand to think of myself living in a country where people differentiate between our children and other children.”

As of Thursday, 415 people indicated they would attend and almost 1,100 were interested, according to an event Facebook page.

On June 20, Trump signed an executive order designed to end the splitting up of families while also doubling down on his administration’s tough immigration policy, galvanizing immigration-rights activists and sparking calls to end the to end the practice.

The zero-tolerance policy called for the prosecution of all immigrants entering the country illegally. A wave of immigrants from mostly Central America fleeing gang violence and instability have traveled to the southern border to claim asylum.

Under the order, immigrant families would be kept together except in cases where an adult may pose a threat to a child.

Immigrant advocates and lawyers argue the Trump administration doesn’t have a plan for family reunification. On Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said children will be reunited with their families only if the parents drop their asylum claims and agree to be deported.

On the same day, a federal judge ruled that U.S. immigration agents could no longer separate immigrant families caught crossing illegally into the U.S. from Mexico and must work to reunite families split up in custody.

Prior to the executive order, parents were taken into federal custody and referred for prosecution and their children were placed in shelters, foster homes or with sponsors, such as family members.

The order does not abandon the administration’s prosecution policy.

The influx of undocumented minors has left lawmakers with few options, said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, known as FAIR, a group which advocates for a stronger border, lower levels of immigration and a greater focus on high-skilled immigrants.

“Nobody wants to see families separated,” Mehlman said. “Congress knows about the flaws in the law. They could fix it today if they wanted to… they would rather have a political football to kick a round than find a solution.”

As of June 20, there were 2,053 separated minors being held in Department of Homeland Security facilities and efforts were being made to reunite them with a parent or guardian, according to a DHS press release.

The rally runs from 10 a.m. to noon at the Children’s Gateway Garden in Cesar E. Chavez Park, 401 Golden Ave.