Immigration activists take to the streets after Trump administration announces plan to wind down program for young immigrants who were brought into the U. S. illegally as children
NEW YORK — Immigration activists took to the streets Tuesday to protest the Trump administration’s decision to end the 2012 program that deferred deportations for nearly a million young people who were brought to the U. S.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions outlined the decision at the Justice Department, arguing that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was an «unconstitutional» overreach of former President Barack Obama’s executive authority.
After the decision was announced, protesters marched in cities across the country, including Denver, Phoenix, Washington and New York City.
In Manhattan, police handcuffed more than a dozen immigration activists who blocked Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower. The protests grew to roughly 400 people on Tuesday.
At least 34 protesters were arrested at the demonstration, a New York Police Department spokesperson told CBS News.
Some activists cried as they held hands during a sit-in on the pavement. Others stood on the sidelines, chanting loudly and waving signs. They yelled «undocumented — unafraid.»
«DACA meant everything to me. And now, five years later, I feel like my life is back in that place, like my life is back in limbo, » Angie Kim, a DACA recipient, told CBS New York.
In Denver, students walked out of several high schools to protest the decision. Students marched with signs in support of DACA and joined a larger demonstration downtown, CBS Denver reports.
«I started crying because I don’t think it’s fair that people think that DACA is something wrong when it’s not, » Maria Daniela Lopez, a DACA applicant, told the station.
She added, «Like my poster says, DACA is working and it is supporting thousands of people, so I don’t think it’s fair that they’re taking that away from everyone.»
