The month of June is celebrated as Annual Immigrant Heritage Month in the United States. It is to highlight immigrants and their diverse experiences. The month highlights their stories of struggles, triumphs and contributions to their new country. Immigrant Heritage Month began in 2014 as "an opportunity for Americans to celebrate the countless contributions immigrants have made and continue to make to the United States and to reflect on their family’s heritage."

The annual Immigrant Heritage Month Celebration was held on Saturday in downtown Houston, Texas, the United States. A press release from the Mayor's Office on Friday, Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner issued a proclamation recognizing June as Immigrant Heritage Month in the city of Houston. The Immigrant Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate the positive ways immigrants impact communities across the country.

Immigrants have become an important part of the growing diverse population of the United States. Highlighting the cause, people have been tweeting with the hashtag #CelebrateImmigrants taking ahead of the conversation.  I Am An Immigrant is encouraging people to share their stories using the hashtag #CelebrateImmigrants.

Donald Trump's new "zero-tolerance" immigration policy that was largely criticised has resulted in divided families. The month is being celebrated amid reports of separation of children from their parents. According to the new policy, all illegal immigrants are detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents and sent to the processing centre. An audio clip of a separated child calling out to her father that surfaced online had garnered further criticisms on the policy. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Around 2,000 immigrant children were separated from their parents in six weeks. As of 2016, 43.7 million immigrants reside in the United States which accounts for 13.5 per cent of the total U.S. population.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 19, 2018 05:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).