When a young American completes 13 weeks of some of the most grueling training in the world and earns the title of United States Marine, their family deserves to celebrate that moment with pride, not face immigration screening at the gate.

This Easter weekend, ICE agents will be stationed at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina, checking the documentation of family members arriving to watch their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, graduate from basic training. For many of these families, it will be the first time they have seen their recruit in person since training began. That reunion should be defined by honor and sacrifice, not by federal agents demanding papers at the door.

The Marine Corps is one of the most revered institutions in American life. Its graduation ceremonies are not political events. They are sacred milestones, moments when a family watches someone they love become part of something larger than themselves. Injecting immigration enforcement into that moment does not make Parris Island safer. It makes military service feel like a trap for the families of the people who volunteered to defend this country.

Military families already give an enormous amount. They endure long separations, sleepless nights, and the constant weight of not knowing. They show up on graduation day because they earned that moment just as much as the recruit did. Every family member who hesitates to attend, or stays home out of fear, is a family that has been failed by the government their Marine signed up to serve.

This is not about immigration policy. It is about basic respect for the military community. Americans across the political spectrum, veterans, military families, and anyone who believes in honoring those who serve, should be able to agree on this: graduation day at Parris Island belongs to the Marines and the people who love them.

Sign this petition to call on the Department of Homeland Security and Marine Corps leadership to keep immigration enforcement out of military graduation ceremonies and protect the dignity of every military family.