An estimated crowd of several thousand people marched peacefully Saturday morning in Atlanta as part of a national effort to spotlight U.S. immigration policies that are separating children from their parents.

The Families Belong Together event brought a large crowd together after a roughly half-mile procession that started at the Atlanta Detention Center and ended at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building.

» Photos: Immigration protests in cities coast-to-coast

The Atlanta event was among such marches and rallies planned across the nation Saturday.

Return to AJC.com later today for more coverage and photos, including news from rallies across the U.S.