19 immigration protestors arrested outside Ryan’s office

Nineteen people were arrested Wednesday while protesting immigration policies outside Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) office on Capitol Hill.

The individuals were calling for Ryan to bring the DREAM Act to a vote, and were charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding, a Capitol Police spokesperson told the Huffington Post.

The 19 arrested were representing Asian-American organizations, and were released later on Wednesday.

The individuals were pushing for passage of a “clean” DREAM Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children without putting measures like additional border security in place, something that GOP lawmakers have insisted on including in an immigration bill.

19 #AAPI #DREAM Advocates Arrested in front of @SpeakerRyan‘s Office. Read more: https://t.co/vbg4xgraGi #cleanDREAMAct #AAPIs4DREAM pic.twitter.com/iGja3fgCCD

— APALA (@APALAnational) November 15, 2017

{mosads}

Lawmakers have been working to reach a deal on immigration legislation since President Trump announced in September that he would rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era program shielding from deportation thousands of people brought to the U.S. illegally as minors.

Trump gave lawmakers a six-month window to pass legislation shielding those affected by his administration’s move to shutter the program.

“The Trump administration continues to stoke fear into our immigrant and refugee communities, and today and every day until white supremacists are out of office, we will protect and defend our family, friends, and communities from hate violence, racism, and xenophobia,” one of the protestors said in a press release.

According to the Huffington Post, about 16,000 Asian immigrants benefit from DACA.