15 Protesters Arrested After Demonstration Defending DACA at Texas Capitol

A supportive crowd of dozens chanted “undocumented and unafraid” and “sí se puede” as the demonstrators were handcuffed with zip-ties.


About 15 immigrants rights supporters were arrested Wednesday outside the Texas Capitol after they blocked traffic in an effort to defend existing immigrant protections and demand permanent legal status.

A supportive crowd of dozens chanted “undocumented and unafraid” and “sí se puede” as the demonstrators were handcuffed with zip-ties and led into a nearby state building by Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers. The arrests came after several of the protesters sat in the street, blocking traffic in downtown Austin on the north side of the Capitol.

The hourlong demonstration was led by so-called dreamers — recipients of Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) — and came on the heels of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s urging the Trump administration to end the program. Four of the activists arrested told the Observer that they are DACA recipients and that their immigration status could be jeopardized by a criminal record. Others were permanent residents or citizens, they said.

On June 29, Paxton led a 10-state coalition in sending a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions demanding that the administration terminate DACA, which has provided work permits and relief from deportation to more than 750,000 young immigrants since 2012. The letter threatens that if Trump doesn’t comply by September 5, the states will sue the federal government via an existing lawsuit. Trump has repeatedly vacillated on the question of DACA, and the letter appears to be an attempt to force his hand.

Behind the Wednesday protest was Movimiento Cosecha, a two-year-old immigrant rights network that emphasizes direct action and “noncooperation” to demonstrate the nation’s “dependence on immigrants,” according to Vera Parra, a Cosecha organizer. The network has a presence in more than 20 states and is run by full-time volunteers, Parra said.


A new version of the DREAM Act was introduced last week in the U.S. Senate. The DREAM Act of 2017 would provide a path to citizenship for many childhood arrivals. Similar versions of the proposal have failed in the past decade, and the 2017 version is unlikely to pass a Republican-controlled Congress and administration.

It wasn’t immediately clear what the protesters were charged with or whether they would be incarcerated or cited and released. A request for that information was not immediately returned by DPS.

During the regular legislative session, 24 protesters were arrested after an eight-hour sit-in at Governor Greg Abbott’s office lobby in opposition to Senate Bill 4, the so-called sanctuary cities ban.

https://www.texasobserver.org/15-pro...texas-capitol/