100 religious leaders, immigration activists arrested in Washington

More than 100 religious leaders and immigration activists were arrested in front of the White House in Washington, DC on Thursday after staging a rally to urge the US government to stop deporting child immigrants.  

The rally was organized by Church World Service (CWS) and Casa de Maryland, an immigration advocacy group. The protesters called on President Barack Obama to do more to protect the rights of immigrants.
The demonstration began with a prayer service and press conference at 12pm in Lafayette Park followed by a protest along the White House fence to call attention to President Barack Obama's "inhumane immigration enforcement policies."
After refusing to leave White House sidewalk, the activists were arrested and charged with blocking passage, according to CWS's statement. The organizers say police arrested 112 protesters who had come from across the country, including from Hawaii.
“I’m ashamed of the way some of our lawmakers are refusing to grant people the opportunity to live and work and contribute to our society,” said the Reverend Thomas Bain, a retired United Methodist minister and community activist from Kailua, Hawaii, as he sought a cup of coffee before leaving for the protest.
“We are here because we are not hearing a moral voice coming from the White House,” said United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcano of Los Angeles. “This is a day of justice. Let us be that moral voice.”
"We have come to Washington, DC to tell to President Obama and Congress that kicking out suffering immigrant families and unaccompanied children is not the answer. Immediately stopping the deportations and extending due process to children escaping the violence of drug cartels, gangs and poverty is the just way to respond," Carcano said.
The Obama administration has been at odds with Republicans in Congress over a range of immigration reforms.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest criticized congressional leaders for failing to pass immigration reform and “instead driving an approach that is about rounding up and deporting 11 million people, separating families and undermining (the Department of Homeland Security’s) ability to secure the border.”
Immigration officials say more than 57,000 unaccompanied children have reached US border states since October of last year. They say the number is expected to rise in the coming months.