Members of Congress and immigration activists blocked the entrance to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters Wednesday, protesting the Trump administration’s policy of separating families at the border.
Ten House members, including Reps. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park ), Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), John Lewis (D-Ga.), Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) and Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), wore white armbands to signify their intention to be arrested in an act of civil disobedience.
The representatives sought to draw attention to a policy many of them called immoral and inhumane. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said the issue had not received the congressional scrutiny it deserved.
“I cannot think of an act that is more cruel and more inhumane than to rip a child from the arms of a mother,” Gutierrez told a crowd of about 200 people at Freedom Plaza. The event was organized by activist groups including the Center for Popular Democracy.
