Protestors: Deporting Students Is Harassment

Protesters stormed the East Village trolley station Thursday with a message to the Metropolitan Transit System: "Protect our students."  

The demonstration, which included immigrant rights activists, students and teachers, comes after a controversial TSA and Border Patrol Operation last month, in which 21 people were detained at the Old Town Trolley Station.

All of the detainees were deported, including three students who were said to be on their way to school.

Thursday’s protest targeted MTS for, according to a teacher involved in the protest, allowing federal agents to conduct raids on public transportation.

"MTS has always protected our children on their way to school and now all of a sudden, they're allowing people to board our busses and trolleys and question them and detain them, even when they're showing school identification," said Dawn Miller, a high school teacher. "We want Border Patrol off our trolleys, off our busses. We want our students to be able to go to school safely without being harassed."

An MTS spokesperson was not immediately available for comment on Thursday's demonstration.  But after last month's deportation an official said the agency couldn’t interfere with federal agents. Border Patrol and TSA fall under the jurisdiction of Homeland Security.

Meanwhile, an anti immigration expert supported last month's raids assuming correct protocol was followed when deporting minors.

A spokesperson for the TSA was not immediately available to answer questions about last month's trolley detail.

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