The following is a press release from the Fair Immigration Reform Movement:
17 People, Including Four Minors, Arrested in Civil Disobedience Protest Advocating for Immigration Reform
Today, 17 people, including four minors, were arrested inside the U.S. Capitol complex. Some of the young people have gone through the pain and anguish of losing a parent to deportation. Others live in fear of losing a loved one.
Supporters, families and leaders, including UFW President Arturo Rodríguez and volunteers from Virginia Organizing, engaged in an enhanced act of protest against family separation, part of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement’s (FIRM) phase of escalation, STOP SEPARATING FAMILIES. The act of civil disobedience is an outcry against a broken immigration system that works every day to separate their families.
The families went to the offices of House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. None of the leaders spoke to the families. The arrests were made outside of Boehner’s office.
Esteban Verdugo, 12, of Michigan, was one of the minors arrested. Esteban’s father was deported in June 2013.
“When I found out he was going to be deported I started crying, I am really afraid I will never see him again,” Esteban said. “I really want Congress to work to keep families from being separated and I hope that my dad can come back home very soon.”
In light of the family separation crisis, FIRM has called for a National Day to Stop Separating Families on June 28, where groups across the movement will coalesce in action. June 28th is the deadline our movement gave House Republicans for movement on immigration reform. Meantime, we demand that President Obama take immediate action against the needless deportation crisis that his administration has overseen.
View the pictures from today’s action calling for legislative immigration reform below, from the Fair Immigration Reform Movement:
