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Local organizations acting to stop family separation at the border

“We want the world to see that the Quad Cities is composed of caring, compassionate people.”
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BETTENDORF, Iowa-- Mari Bribriesco was devastated to find out that children were being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

"They've been subjected to this cruelty," the Deputy State Director for the Leagues of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Iowa said. "They're going to be emotionally scarred forever."

Bribriesco said she's usually an optimist, but that optimism waivered when she tried to think about what she could do to change the Trump administration's policy. But she knew she couldn't just stand by.

"If you feel hopeless and you feel like nothing you do matters, nothing will change," she said.

So she's organizing some rallies, joining hundreds from across the country in protesting the zero-tolerance policy.

LULAC is joining forces with Progressive Action for the Common Good and Quad City Interfaith, among other organizations. There's a rally planned in Rock Island on June 30, although all the details haven't been finalized. Another is in the works for the Iowa side of the river.

Bribriesco said she wants Iowa's congressional representatives to take notice and actually do something to stop the current situation.

"We need to have people be reminded on a daily basis that this is wrong," she said. "We want the world to see that the Quad Cities is composed of caring, compassionate people."

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