Published: July 21, 2010
Updated: 10:11 a.m.

O.C., CA. illegal immigrant freed in D.C.

By BRIAN ROSENTHAL and DENA BUNIS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

WASHINGTON – Police Wednesday freed Antonia Rivera, the Santa Ana woman who was arrested on Capitol Hill Tuesday along with 20 other young illegal immigrants who were demonstrating in favor of a bill to give her and others brought to the United States as children the opportunity to live here legally.

Rivera, 28, a graduate of UC Irvine, was let go along with 16 others who protested Wednesday. Four undocumented immigrants – who sat in at Sen. John McCain's office- remained in police custody. All 12 of the people who sat in a circle in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building were let go despite their immigration status.

Antonia Rivera, a UC Irvine graduate, came to Washington, D.C., this week to demonstrate for passage of the DREAM Act.

"Our focus is arresting them and prosecuting them for the crimes they committed,'' said Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider. After that, she said, it's up to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take any action in regard to immigration violations. So far ICE hasn't commented on any plans to take action against the demonstrators.

This group was part of several hundred people who came to the Capitol this week to push for passage of the DREAM Act. The bill would allow people brought here as children and who went to high school here and after that either went on to higher education or joined the military to get legal status. The measure has in the past had the support of a majority of lawmakers in both the Senate and the House but hasn't come to a vote in either chamber.

Opponents of the bill say illegal behavior should not be rewarded, regardless of how these people came to be in the United States.
Rivera and her fellow activists were holding a news conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

The demonstrators who were arrested – including those who sat in at McCain's office and five others who sat in at Majority Leader Harry Reid's personal office – knew they would likely be arrested, activists said.
A spokesman for the group, Juan Escalante, said the group was actually disappointed that they were released because they were hoping to be taken into federal immigration custody to make their point about the need for the DREAM Act.

Contact the writer: (202) 628-6381 or brosenthal@ocregister.com

http://www.ocregister.com/news/people-2 ... ation.html