The following article by Erica Pearson was published by the New York Daily News on Tuesday, October 29, 2013, 4:16 PM. Photos by Barry Williams for New York Daily News. The original article can be accessed here.
Pastor, bishop, nun among 10 arrested at NYC immigration reform rally
Those detained during the Tuesday protest calling for congressional action have been charged with disorderly conduct. The activists rallied near the immigration facility in Manhattan at 201 Varick St.
(Featured photo caption: A NYPD officer warns immigration reform activists they will be arrested for blocking W. Houston St. outside a federal immigration facility on Tuesday.)
Ten people — including a bishop, a nun and a pastor — were busted in Manhattan on Tuesday as they rallied for Congress to move on stalled immigration reform.
The activists, holding up signs with House Speaker John Boehner‘s photo and the words “Speaker Boehner stop your family separation agenda” blocked traffic on W. Houston St. near the immigration facility at 201 Varick St.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter and Sister Susan Wilcox are led to a police van.
Dozens of supporters cheered and chanted, “What do we want? Immigration reform! When do we want it? Now!” as police took the 10 arrested protesters into a waiting van and charged them with disorderly conduct.
Bangladeshi activist Mazeda Uddin is arrested.
House Republican leaders have said that without majority GOP support, they will not move on the reform package that cleared the Senate. House Democrats have produced their own, similar legislation but have just two Republican co-sponsors.
Tahamina Islam and her son, Mahmud Kahn, 13. Islam worries for her children after the loss of their father, who has been in immigration detention for nearly a year.
“The House of Representatives, frankly, is not doing anything,” said Bishop Orlando Findlayter, a leader at Brooklyn’s New Hope Christian Fellowship, before his arrest.
Brooklyn nun Susan Wilcox, the Rev. Chloe Breyer, executive director of the Interfaith Center of New York, and other advocates were also arrested during the rally, which was organized by the New York Immigration Coalition.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter said before his arrest, ‘The House of Representatives, frankly, is not doing anything.’
One protester, Bangladeshi activist Mazeda Uddin of the Alliance of South Asian American Labor, was cuffed holding up photos of a Bangladeshi-American family from Sunnyside, Queens, where the dad has been in immigration detention for nearly a year.
Two protesters are led to a police van after their arrest.
“She’s doing this for us. God bless her,” said Tahamina Islam, 35, after Mazeda’s arrest.
Islam’s husband, Mohammad Khan — who was ordered deported after he missed an immigration court hearing — is at an Elizabeth, N.J., detention center, Islam said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately return a request for comment.
Joel Ponder shouts in support of immigration reform.
Islam is worried about her sons, 13-year-old Mahmud and 2-year-old Moosa — especially the teenager.
“When I’m seeing my son, there’s no way he can get by without his dad,” she said. “He’s getting depressed. He thinks he lost his dad forever.”
Two immigration reform activists, Bishop Orlando Findlayter and Sister Susan Wilcox, are led to a police van after their arrest.
Elizabeth Lucero (l.) and Sulay Garcia shout in support of immigration reform.
A NYPD officer warns activists they will be arrested for blocking the street.
Faiza Ali participates in the rally.
