The immigration reform issue is a hot potato in terms of political issues and has gained an enormous audience all over the world. A lot of people are starting to realize the unfairness of the treatment being dished out to undocumented immigrants in the United States as the result of unfair policies and even younger people are shrugging off their fear of the legal system and staging acts of civil disobedience all over the country to show support for immigrants.
Civilian groups that support undocumented immigrants came together on 30th April outside the US Capitol, holding up signs reading: “Stop Separating Families.” They blocked traffic at the intersection of New Jersey Avenue and Independence Avenue as they protested against the apparent inability of Congress to come to any agreement on immigration reform.
The group consisted of a number of young people and their families, wearing matching red and white T-shirts, who linked arms in order to demonstrate their solidarity and show their support for the undocumented immigrants who suffer injustice because of the legal system. Police arrived on the scene and took them into custody after only a few minutes. “Although I’m a US citizen, I’m doing this because my dad needs immigration reform,” said 11-year-old Alabama resident Yahir Servin. “I don’t want any other kids to have to live with fear of losing their dad to deportation like I do.”
At the same time as the youngsters’ protest, Representative Luis Gutierrez was reminding House of Representatives members that time is running out for them to make any progress on the issue in 2014.