BRUNSWICK, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) took part in the Families Belong Together rally in Brunswick, joining Maine people to speak out against the Administration’s treatment of immigrant families. 

“The energy at today’s rally matched the energy of the Maine people who have contacted my office over the last several weeks: shocked, angry, and ready to create change,” said Senator King. “The Administration’s policy – and it was exactly that, a policy from the Administration, not a law – is entirely out-of-line with our nation’s values, and even now there are still an unknown number of families who have not been reunited. I will keep fighting against this misguided practice, both as a United States Senator and as a citizen, and I urge every Maine person who cares about this issue to make sure your voice is heard as well.”

Senator King has been an outspoken opponent of the policy of separating immigrant children from their families. Yesterday, he published a post on Medium in advance of the rally in which he outlined his opposition to the Administration’s policy, which can be read in full HERE. Earlier this month, he spoke on the Senate floor to criticize arguments in support of the effort. Senator King is an original cosponsor of the Keep Families Together Act, which would prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from taking children from their parents at the border. He joined a group of his colleagues in sending a letter in early June to the Administration urging them end the policy, and also joined 48 of his colleagues in a letter calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on the Administration’s treatment of children coming across the Southern border.

Senator King has focused on issues related to our borders for many years; in 2014, he toured facilities holding unaccompanied minors who had attempted to cross into the United States through the Southern Border, and in 2016, a bill he cosponsored with Senator Susan Collins that requires the Department of Homeland Security to evaluate security threats along our Northern Border was signed into law.

Photo 1: Senator King addresses the crowd at the Families Belong Together rally in Brunswick.