Pro-immigrant protesters blocked George Washington Bridge lanes between New York City and New Jersey yesterday. They chained themselves together and halted the traffic on the busiest bridge in the US during the middle of the morning rush. On the upper level of the bridge, bound for the city, delays were up to as long as 90 minutes, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority, says that ten people were arrested as a result of the protest. The protesters were holding up a sign, which said, ‘Deport ICE’, in reference to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, according to Coleman. The agency oversees the deportation of thousands of undocumented immigrants every week, with over two million deported during the time President Barack Obama has been in the White House. This figure is higher than any recorded under any previous administration.
The Laundry Workers Center claims on its website to have helped organize the protest. The co-director, Mahoma Lopez, states that immigrants are tired of having to be in the shadows when they contribute to society, pay taxes and help to build the nation, and yet are denied participation in local and national decisions.
The protesters started to block eastbound traffic around 8:15 am but had been removed by 8:30, with all lanes having reopened again by 8:50 am, Coleman says. No one was injured and no property was damaged during the protest.