Over 100 Faith Leaders, Immigrant Activists Arrested At White House For Protesting Deportations

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/31/faith-leaders-protest-deportation_n_5638223.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

By Antonia Blumberg

Posted: 07/31/2014 2:26 pm EDT Updated: 07/31/2014 2:59 pm EDT

More than 100 faith leaders and immigration activists participated in a demonstration and were arrested at the White House on Thursday to protest the daily deportations of undocumented immigrations.

The demonstration opened with a prayer service and press conference at 12pm in Lafayette Park followed by a protest along the White House fence to call attention to what a Church World Service (CWS) statement referred to as President Obama's "inhumane immigration enforcement policies." After refusing to leave White House sidewalk, the activists were arrested and charged with blocking passage, according to CWS's statement.

Citing frequently referenced estimates, CWS's statement said that the U.S. deports 1,100 undocumented immigrants every day when the government should focus on expanding resources for immigrant families -- and especially for the tens of thousands of unaccompanied children apprehended at the border every year.

Rabbi Kimelman-Block, who was arrested for civil disobedience at an October rally for immigration reform, led the prayer and invoked the Jewish community's immigrant past to enforce his message:



more at link