Nearly 100 Activists Arrested During ICE Protest That Shut Down NYC's West Side Highway

Nearly 100 people were arrested after anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters temporarily shut down a section of New York City’s West Side Highway in Manhattan on Saturday. This latest protest was to call attention to the treatment of people at the border as well as the arrests of nearly 700 migrant workers in Mississippi.

Protesters sat down and linked arms at 26th Street, blocking the multilane thoroughfare in both directions just after 1 p.m. EST, according to the New York Post. Here’s video of some, holding signs that say “ABOLISH ICE” and “CLOSE THE CAMPS.”

CNN reported this statement from event organizers: “We DEMAND an end to all detention and separation of families at the border and everywhere. We DEMAND dignity, respect, and permanent protection for all undocumented immigrants.”

Protesters chanted “I believe that we will win” and “Reunite the families,” according to the Post.

“We are protesting the camps at the border and the children being separated from their parents,” activist and Brooklyn resident Miriam Bernstein of Brooklyn told CBS2, the New York City CBS affiliate. The intersection at 26th Street was chosen because of nearby ICE offices, the activist told the television affiliate.

Bernstein also told the Post that activists “volunteered specifically to be arrested.” The charges for those arrested was disorderly conduct, NYPD detective Sophia T. Mason told CNN. The road reopened by 2:15 p.m. EST.