CONGRESS

Hundreds Arrested at US Senate Office Building While Protesting Immigration Policy

Rep. Pramila Jayapal D-Wash., posted a video on her Twitter, saying she was arrested along with over 500 women

Hundreds of people protesting President Donald Trump's immigration policies were arrested Thursday afternoon at a Senate office building.

U.S. Capitol Police said officers arrested about 575 protesters in the Senate Hart Office building and charged them with unlawfully demonstrating.

The sit-in of protesting women was organized by two liberal groups, Women's March and the Center for Popular Democracy Action. They assembled to protest the separation of migrant children from their families when they cross the border illegally. 

A release about the protest said that more than 1,000 women would converge on D.C.

Organizers of the demonstration said later Thursday that a large group of protesters were planning to get arrested in the Senate office building.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal D-Wash., posted a video on her Twitter, saying she was arrested along with over 500 women.

“As a member of Congress I refuse to let this president and this administration do what they are doing to children, to parents, to asylum seekers, in my name,” she said in the video.

The protests came as demonstrations occurred around the country over the Trump administration's policy of separating immigrant families. They offered a glimpse of what might happen on Saturday when rallies are planned coast to coast, the Associated Press reported.

Contact Us