Immigration activists to occupy House

Immigration activists plan to occupy House office buildings on Friday to protest GOP positions on illegal immigration. 

United We Dream, a youth-led group that supports expanding protection for illegal immigrants, announced members would protest inside the Rayburn House Office Building at 12:30 p.m.

The group said it would target members from Arizona, California, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Washington and Virginia. The group did not include a list of specific lawmakers.

The House is not in session on Friday, however, and most lawmakers have returned to their home districts for the July 4 recess.

The group accuses Republicans of using “harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric,” and says the party is using the large influx of child immigrants coming from Central American countries as an excuse not to act on immigration reform. 

{mosads}The group is pushing for the Obama administration to expand a 2012 program that allows some children brought to the country illegally to be deprioritized for deportation. The group wants the program to include the family members of those children as well. 

Similar protests have been staged before. The group shows video on its website of its members being arrested in House office buildings in the past. 

More than 52,000 unaccompanied children have filtered into the country from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras this year, as crime in the region increases and misperception about U.S. immigration policy has made them believe they can stay in the United States. 

Republicans say they will not act on immigration until the administration cracks down on border security. 

The administration has held off on a review of deportation policies to give Congress room to negotiate a deal. But as hope of immigration reform fades, Democrats are warning that President Obama is not bluffing on using executive authority to make changes to deportation policy.