Last week, over two dozen protesters were arrested for standing against immigration deportations outside a Detention Center in Broadview, Illinois.
The first arrests occurred Friday morning outside the detention center. As protesters gathered, a bus pulled out full of undocumented immigrants headed to O’Hare Airport for deportation. Several of the protesters took to the street, blocking the roadway in front of the bus. As many as six were arrested Friday.
A similar incident occurred Tuesday after hundreds of protesters camped out overnight in front of the detention center. When a bus departed with immigrants, two dozen of the protesters sat in the street, arms linked, stopping the bus from passing. Those arrested include clergymen and civic leaders.
The protests in Broadview are in part a response to Arizona’s SB1070 law. The law, which makes it a crime under state law to be in U.S. without documentation, grants police the right to question and demand proof of citizenship from anyone they suspect may be undocumented.
In a state long beleaguered by controversy regarding its tactics when it comes to immigration, this law opens the door for more racial profiling and discrimination.
Those arrested in Broadview were taken to a local police station and shortly released with minor charges for blocking traffic.
The protests are yet another indication that Americans are losing patience with lawmakers when it comes to immigration reform. And a system that is inhumane.