Abolish ICE Protestors Block DHS Building Entrances and Exits, Attempt to 'Shut Down ICE'

WASHINGTON — Protestors from the group Never Again Action blocked the entrances and exits of the Department of Homeland Security building where the Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters is located.

“We are #JewsAgainstICE because #NeverAgainMeans never again for anyone. Join thousands of us in DC on July 16th to #ShutDownICE!” read the group’s Twitter account biography. The organizers also used the hashtag #ClosetheCamps, a reference to the comparison that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) recently made between concentration campus and detention centers for undocumented immigrants.

DHS and ICE employees were unable to enter or exit the building for hours due to the protest on Tuesday.

“We are shutting down every entry point to the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that is responsible for this terror against the immigrant community. We are shutting down business as usual,” the group tweeted along with a video of part of the protest.

ICYMI: We blocked off all entrances and exits to ICE’s DC headquarters today. #JewsAgainstICE and ⁦@CosechaMovement⁩ won’t stop demanding #DignityNotDeportation for ALL immigrants — those in concentration camps and the 11 million. https://t.co/uvE9IbInM1

— ✡️ Never Again Action ✡️ (@NeverAgainActn) July 17, 2019

According to a news report from WJLA, “as rush hour traffic began, activists sat down on D Street blocking all traffic to and from ICE headquarters. Many of them said they would sit there until they are arrested.”

“A spokesperson for Never Again Action said at least one dozen people were arrested inside of ICE headquarters,” the report read.

Protestors chanted, “Never Again is Now” and “Abolish ICE.” They also called on ICE employees to quit and held a large banner that read, “Pelosi Never Again is Now #DignityNotDetention.”

“‘Never again means quit your jobs’ is what we are chanting as police and @ICEgov try to intimidate us. We’ve all heard that Germans were just doing their jobs. It is unacceptable. This is not a time for business as usual. We must #ShutDownICE,” the group tweeted.