'This injustice must stop': Protesters block Golden Gate Bridge, demand immigration reform
Protesters in dozens of vehicles blocked traffic on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge early Thursday to demand Senate Democrats "take immediate action to protect all immigrant families," according to a statement from organizers.
Five organizers, including at least one person living in the country illegally, were arrested following the demonstration, organizers from the Movement for Citizenship for All and the Bay Area Coalition for Economic Justice and Citizenship for All said in a statement sent to USA TODAY.
California Highway Patrol public information officer Andrew Barclay confirmed to USA TODAY that five people were arrested and four cars towed following the protest. No injuries were reported, he said.
During the protest, which started at around 7 a.m., 35 cars halted traffic on the bridge's northbound lanes for 45 minutes, organizers said. California Highway Patrol also said traffic was moving in about 45 minutes.
Dozens of cars with carried signs in English and Spanish declaring "Citizenship for Everyone!" and "No human is illegal" as speakers demanded immigration reform and climate and economic justice, according to a Facebook livestream from activist group Bay Resistance.
As the sun rose over the bridge, a man sang and played his guitar from the back of a truck, declaring "I am a Dreamer" after his performance.
The protest came ahead of a Senate vote on a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill that many immigration advocates hoped would include a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, organizers said.
The demonstration also called for economic equity and criticized the treatment of Haitian refugees, as well as the exclusion of workers living in the country without legal permission from government programs including social security, Medicare and federal stimulus relief, according to the statement from organizers.
"This injustice must stop," the statement said. "Immigrant communities cannot wait another 20 years of failed promises...The time to deliver economic justice, climate justice, and citizenship for all is now."
Protester Luis Angel Reyes Savalza told the San Francisco Chronicle the demonstration is a part of a renewed push for immigration reform among local organizers.
“We are escalating our actions and our undocumented families are risking arrest and possibly deportation to send the message we can no longer wait,” Reyes Savalza said.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Golden Gate Bridge blocked by protest for immigration reform
