New York City Protestors Rally Against Immigration Raids

Protestors from a coalition group for immigrants’ rights rallied in New York City on Friday to protest about the recent raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with the intention of detaining and deporting recent undocumented immigrants from Central America.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced over Christmas that it planned to detain and deport, with 121 undocumented immigrants already apprehended in states such as Georgia, North Carolina and Texas.

Latino Rebels says the coalition group known as ICE-Free NYC marched outside a Lower Manhattan immigration court to protest about the raids. Seven people were reported to have been arrested for blocking the corner of West Houston Street and Varick Street while wearing cement sleeves, according to Waging Nonviolence.

“In light of the national news that immigrant communities are again being terrorized, with people being woken up in the middle of the night and families being torn apart in states across the country, we felt it was imperative that, here in New York City, we have an action and call attention to this,” said ICE-Free NYC organizer Nastaran Mohit. “This is a crisis, and it demands action.” The rally lasted for around an hour before protestors were finally dispersed by police.

Mohit claims the “brave” actions of some of the protestors are only the beginning and that ICE-Free NYC is tired of holding press conferences and rallies. “This is a crisis in our community so we’re going to continue to escalate,” he confirmed.