Activists Block Bus In Protest Near San Francisco Immigration Office
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Dozens of protesters surrounded a bus believed to be filled with immigrants slated for deportation at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in San Francisco, a protest organizer said Thursday.
The protesters included dozens of undocumented immigrants and immigrants' rights advocates who rallied for the expansion of a national movement to pressure President Barack Obama to halt immigrant deportations, according to Jon Rodney, a spokesman for the California Immigrant Policy Center.
"We are not going to wait for Congress anymore. We are not going to wait for Obama. This is a humanitarian crisis, two million people deported in 5 years," protester Hairo Cortez told KPIX 5.
The protesters blocked what was believed to be a bus carrying immigrants to be deported from the USCIS office at 630 Sansome St., Rodney said.
"There are family members, there are mothers, there are fathers, there's children, brothers, sisters that may never see their family members again," said Jen Low of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. "The plan is to go nationwide until the deportations stop and until we get deferred action or a pathway to citizenship."
Police negotiated with the demonstrators to move away from the bus, which was able to go on its way after a couple of hours. Citing the Sanctuary City policy, no arrests were made and no one was handed over to federal agents.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement had no comment on the protest Thursday night.
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