A group of thirteen women activists were arrested outside the White House on Monday morning protesting against families being torn apart by the Obama administration’s aggressive deportation policies.
Over a thousand demonstrators with the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the anti-deportation group Not 1 More, among others, marched to the White House before the women were arrested for staging a sit-in on the Pennsylvania Avenue sidewalk.
“In 11 million households across the U.S., children are missing their fathers, women are left with the difficult task of raising families without their partners, and the deep connections between members in mixed status families and communities are severed,” the demonstrators wrote in a statement ahead of the action. “These numbers continue to grow as the current deportation crisis tears apart 1,100 more families each day.”
As one speaker explained during the protest, the Obama administration’s strategy has been: “Deport the man, the family will follow.”
The group is urging President Obama to take executive action to stop deportations of undocumented immigrants and push forward with long-promised legislation protecting immigrant families.
Following the White House action, demonstrators with the National Domestic Workers Alliance along with other labor rights groups, are staging a protest outside the Capitol building against “rampant income inequality,” calling for a minimum wage hike as well as an end to tax breaks for wealthy corporations.
Dubbed the “Deporter-in-Chief,” Obama has overseen a record 2 million deportations during his tenure as president and, according to the ACLU, the Department of Homeland Security continues to deport about 1,000 people a day.
BREAKING: Arrests begin at the White House — stop deportations now! #not1more #risingvoices #ppl1st @NPAction pic.twitter.com/hlMllnusSJ
— Grace Pai (@gracekp3) April 28, 2014