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New Yorkers rally in opposition to federal immigration policy
Residents throughout the Hudson Valley and Albany rallied June 30 in the brutally high temperatures to demand the reunification of immigrant families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. Rachel Silberstein is reporting in the Times Union more than 100 protesters gathered in front the State Capitol holding signs reading "Abolish ICE" and "Make American Kind Again." U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan and Assemblymember Pat Fahy were among those who addressed the crowd. Patricia Doxsey is reporting in the Daily Freeman hundreds attended the rally held outside City Hall in Kingston. Among the speakers was a boy who only wanted to be identified as "Alex," Alagna, of Holy Cross/Santa Cruz Episcopal Church and Rabbi Yael Romer, of Congregation Emanuel of the Hudson Valley. Following the rally, protestors marched to George Washington Elementary School where Democratic Congressional hopeful Antonio Delgado, a Rhinebeck resident, also spoke. Amy H. Wu is reporting for the Poughkeepsie Journal approximately 250 people expressed their opposition to federal policy by attending the Families Belong Together Rally in Rhinebeck. The rally was organized by the Rev. Richard McKeon of the Episcopal Church of the Messiah. Following a brief service in the church, attendees rallied outside. At the Albany rally, Tonko said, "What I see happening from a front row seat in Washington is horrible. I find it vulgar that we as a nation that has always stood as a place of refuge ... we promised them our strength. What to we do now? We give them our weakness, we give them our fear, and we tear children away from their families!" The local rallies were among 600 similar rallies and marches held around the country to protest the removal of children from the custody of their parents — an intended consequence for those seeking shelter in the U.S. under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy.