In Austin, Texas, police arrested 15 immigrants’ rights activists Wednesday as they blocked an intersection near the state Capitol in a peaceful sit-in protest. The activists were calling on lawmakers to repeal SB 4, Texas’s harsh new anti-immigrant law. They also called on the Trump administration not to end the DACA program, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which gives some immigrants permission to live, work and study in the U.S. Among those arrested were four DACA recipients who chanted “Undocumented, unafraid!” This is Juan Ortiz, an activist from El Paso and one of the 15 arrested.
Juan Ortiz: “Time is running out under this leadership. And we need to do whatever we can now, put whatever we can on the line, so that we can get people out of the shadows and into the light.”