Ten people — including a bishop, a nun and a pastor — were busted in Manhattan on Tuesday as they rallied for Congress to move on stalled immigration reform.
The activists, holding up signs with House Speaker John Boehner‘s photo and the words “Speaker Boehner stop your family separation agenda” blocked traffic on W. Houston St. near the immigration facility at 201 Varick St.
Dozens of supporters cheered and chanted, “What do we want? Immigration reform! When do we want it? Now!” as police took the 10 arrested protesters into a waiting van and charged them with disorderly conduct.
House Republican leaders have said that without majority GOP support, they will not move on the reform package that cleared the Senate. House Democrats have produced their own, similar legislation but have just two Republican co-sponsors.
“The House of Representatives, frankly, is not doing anything,” said Bishop Orlando Findlayter, a leader at Brooklyn’s New Hope Christian Fellowship, before his arrest.
Brooklyn nun Susan Wilcox, the Rev. Chloe Breyer, executive director of the Interfaith Center of New York, and other advocates were also arrested during the rally, which was organized by the New York Immigration Coalition.
One protester, Bangladeshi activist Mazeda Uddin of the Alliance of South Asian American Labor, was cuffed holding up photos of a Bangladeshi-American family from Sunnyside, Queens, where the dad has been in immigration detention for nearly a year.
“She’s doing this for us. God bless her,” said Tahamina Islam, 35, after Mazeda’s arrest.
Islam’s husband, Mohammad Khan — who was ordered deported after he missed an immigration court hearing — is at an Elizabeth, N.J., detention center, Islam said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately return a request for comment.
Islam is worried about her sons, 13-year-old Mahmud and 2-year-old Moosa — especially the teenager.
“When I’m seeing my son, there’s no way he can get by without his dad,” she said. “He’s getting depressed. He thinks he lost his dad forever.”
