Nine Illegal Immigrants Arrested at Trump Tower Protest in NYC

Just moments after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that President Donald Trump is rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, nine illegal immigrants and three US citizens were arrested near Trump Tower in NYC for sitting in the road and blocking traffic.

Screenshot of those arrested provided in press package by Movimiento Cosecha

Arrests continued outside Trump Tower throughout the afternoon.

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The group who organized the protest is now threatening “escalated action” if the illegal immigrants are not released from jail by the afternoon.

“To help defend undocumented youth from ICE retaliation, allies are prepared to participate in a second wave of escalated action if DACA recipients are not released by the afternoon. They will be refusing to leave jail until all nine DACA recipients are released,” Movimiento Cosecha, the group who organized the protest, said in a press release.

Those arrested were sitting in the street and blocking traffic near Trump Tower.

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“We are angry for all the young undocumented immigrants that haven’t turned 16 yet and are waiting to apply for DACA. We are angry, for all the DACA parents that could lose the job that supported their family. We are angry, for all the plans that DACA recipients had that now seem impossible. But we are also strong; and no politician- not Trump, not Paxton- can take that away from us. Our strength and resilience have never depended on a work permit,” said Thais Marques, a spokesperson for Movimiento Cosecha.

The group hopes that by disrupting traffic and those needing to go to Trump Tower on Tuesday that they will help to “win permanent protection, dignity, and respect for all 11 million undocumented immigrants.”

Just after 11 a.m., Sessions announced the end of the program, with a six month window for Congress to act.

“The DACA program was implemented in 2012 and essentially provided a legal status for recipients for a renewable two-year term, work authorization and other benefits, including participation in the social security program, to 800,000 mostly adult, illegal aliens,” Sessions said. “This policy was implemented unilaterally to great controversy and legal concern after Congress rejected legislative proposals to extend similar benefits on numerous occasions to this same group of illegal aliens.”

There are currently protests all across the country, including outside the White House and Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.