All of the most pressing injustices in the United States have been acknowledged and fought by people uniting to reverse it.

The concept that uniting to overturn an issue, in this case advocating for alternatives to immigration centers, brought people from the community and across the state to converge in the Heart of Virginia Sunday for a protest in response to a recent policy announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that permitted children and parents to be separated after crossing the Southwest border.

Following an executive order June 20 that announced it would reserve this policy, concern and action persists, particularly after investigations that find abuse allegations for adults and children held in facilities and across the United States. This is particularly important as an ICE facility, Farmville Detention Center which holds adult men, is located in the town itself.

To see families, and people young and old assemble to see change is commendable. I want to encourage town officials to hear peoples’ concern and make themselves available to discuss this, and potential solutions. The solutions for this issue are complex and may take time.

Reversing the decision to keep families together, to treat our young people and adults who are immigrants with dignity and respect, is an encouraging step forward.

I’m glad to see people assembling to exercise free speech, fight against injustice and to hold our agencies at the local, state and federal level accountable.

EMILY HOLLINGSWORTH is a staff reporter for The Farmville Herald and Farmville Newsmedia LLC. Her email address is Emily.Hollingsworth@FarmvilleHerald.com.