At least 100 activists were arrested Thursday at a White House protest demanding the Obama administration halt the deportation of illegal immigrants, police told the Associated Press.
Protesters, most of them religious leaders, gathered outside the White House to stand against the administration's deportation of over 1,000 undocumented immigrants every day. Their demand comes as Congress grapples with legislation to address the influx of immigrants crossing the border from Central America.
Hundreds of demonstrators showed up and organized a peaceful sit-in on the sidewalk right outside the White House, which ended with 112 being arrested and charged with obstructing foot traffic, the AP reported.
Supporters were heard pleading with the president right before the mass arrest.
"We are gathered here to make our voices heard," Reverend John McCollough said according to the AP. "We are here to pray for this president, our President Obama, to ask him to lose the bonds of injustice and let the oppressed go free.
"Si se puede!" said the reverend, which roughly translates to "yes we can."
It is rare for large amounts of protesters to be arrested outside the White House for civil disobedience, the AP reported. They are usually released after being processed at D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department.
Both Republicans and Democrats agree something needs to be done about the undocumented immigrants, including thousands of unaccompanied children, who are slipping into the U.S. But legislation to address the issue has been hard to come by.
On Thursday Republicans yanked from the House floor a bill that would have approved $659 million for border security due to a lack of support, The Washington Post reported.
The $659 falls short of the $3.7 billion President Barack Obama originally asked for to deal with the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. Now Congress is scrambling to reach an agreement on legislation before they break for the August recess.
