600 Arrested at Washington Protest Over Trump Immigration Policy

Nearly 600 protesters, mostly women, were arrested on Thursday after they staged a non-violent action in the heart of a US Senate office building in Washington against Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy towards immigrants and separation of families at the border.

The mass protest was one of several demonstrations that erupted across the country, providing a taste of what are expected to be much larger demonstrations on Saturday called by the Women’s March and the Center for Popular Democracy Action. The rallies are likely to get a further boost as a result of the announcement on Wednesday by Anthony Kennedy that he is retiring from the US supreme court, providing Trump with the chance to make a second ultra-conservative appointment to the nation’s highest court and prompting fears of a rollback of liberal protections.

The largest demonstration on Thursday saw the 90ft atrium of the Senate Hart office building overrun by hundreds of women who sat on the floor pumping their fists in the air. Many were draped in foil sheets as a statement on the flimsy bedding given to children and adults as they are held at US border detention facilities. The protesters chanted “abolish Ice” and “we care” – a jab at Melania Trump for wearing a jacket with the words “I really don’t care, do u?” painted on its back as she visited one of the immigrant detention centers in Texas last week.

Read more: Ed Pilkington, Guardian, https://is.gd/46N40g