A wave of women took to the streets and protested in a Senate office building in the nation’s capital on Thursday, to call out the Trump administration’s immigrant family separations and detentions.
Around 2,500 people, largely women, joined in the demonstration in Washington, D.C., organizers told HuffPost. Led by organizers of the Women’s March, the rally was in response to President Donald Trump’s zero tolerance policy, which refers all unauthorized immigrants crossing the border for criminal prosecution, and has led to the separation of more than 2,000 kids from their parents.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and about 600 others were arrested at the demonstration. Protesters were processed on site and released, according to a statement from Capitol Police.
“I was just arrested with 500+ women and @WomensMarch to say @RealDonaldTrump’s cruel zero-tolerance policy will not continue,” Jayapal tweeted. “Not in our country. Not in our name.”
Demonstrators from across the country descended on D.C. for the protest, first blocking the street in front of the Department of Justice, and then proceeding to the Hart building, where hundreds sat down in the lobby wrapped in foil blankets ― a reference to similar blankets given to migrant families held in federal detention centers.
Protesters waved banners saying “End all detention camps,” and chanted “We care!” in an apparent response to First Lady Melania Trump recently wearing a jacket marked “I really don’t care, do u?” while on her way to visit migrant children at a detention center in Texas.
“Women across the country are horrified as we see our government violating the rights of women, separating families, and traumatizing children,” Women’s March co-chair Linda Sarsour said in a statement. “We are rising up to demand an end to the criminalization of immigrants.”
Several Democratic lawmakers showed up, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and John Lewis (D-Ga.), as well as celebrities such as Susan Sarandon.
The protest was the latest of several in recent weeks against Trump’s harsh immigration crackdown. Another major demonstration is planned for Saturday across cities nationwide.
Here is what the women-led protest in D.C. looked like:
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article identified Sen. Tammy Duckworth as a House representative instead of a senator.
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