70 Catholic protesters arrested in D.C. demonstration against Trump's immigration policies
Seventy people from Catholic advocacy groups were arrested in Washington, D.C. Thursday at a protest against the Trump administration's treatment of migrants and asylum-seekers, police said. The protesters had poured into the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill and recited the names of migrant children who died in U.S. custody.
The protest started on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol before entering the Senate building, where protesters packed into the lobby. They carried photos of the dead migrant children.
After entering the building, several protesters laid on the floor in the shape of the cross. Demonstrators also held a prayer vigil and sang lines from a spiritual song: "We shall not be moved. Just like the tree that's standing by the water, we shall not be moved."
Watch here as Sister Pat Murphy, 90, is arrested and led out. Sister Pat works with migrants and refugees in Chicago, and has been holding a weekly vigil outside ICE there for 13 years. She says the treatment of migrants should outrage all people of faith #CatholicDayOfAction #DC pic.twitter.com/z2cXTGcJFn
— Marissa J. Lang (@Marissa_Jae) July 18, 2019
U.S. Capitol Police said 70 protesters were arrested for unlawfully demonstrating, and were charged with crowding, obstructing, or incommoding, which is a misdemeanor. Videos from the protest showed some protesters being arrested during prayer.
This was the second faith-based protest in Washington this week against the Trump administration's immigration policies and detainment of migrants. Ten Jewish protesters were arrested Tuesday for leaving to refuse the lobby of the ICE headquarters, according to the Washington Post. More than 100 protesters had entered the building.
At least six migrant children and a number of adults have died in federal custody, or soon after leaving it, following their detainment at the U.S. border. The U.S. government's own reports on the migrant detention centers found "dangerous overcrowding" and minors going days without hot meals.