Duckworth joins women’s Capitol protest with baby

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and her newborn baby on Thursday joined hundreds of mostly women at a protest of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy on Capitol Hill.

The Illinois Democrat, who recently gave birth to baby girl named Maile, joined Democratic colleagues Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), and others who also attended a protest on Capitol Hill. 

Sen. Duckworth and her baby heading to the TV cameras after revving up the protesters pic.twitter.com/jcagr02sOt

— Andrew Desiderio (@desiderioDC) June 28, 2018

“I wanted to show my support for the folks here today,” Duckworth told CNN after her visit with protesters. “I could only imagine what it would be like to have my daughter — my breastfeeding child — ripped away from me the way some of these other moms’ babies have been.”

Demonstrators at the protest wrapped themselves in foil to represent the foil-like sleeping bags migrant children slept in at detention facilities after being separated from their parents.

Hundreds of people were reportedly arrested at the event, including Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.).

{mosads}The controversial family separations are a result of President Trump’s policy to prosecute all immigrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. It led to hundreds of children being separated  and detained separately from their families.

After public backlash over the policy, Trump signed an executive order allowing families to be detained together. However, it remains unclear how the administration will reunite families.

Duckworth and Maile also made headlines earlier this year by making what is thought to be the first appearance of a baby on the Senate floor.