Pro-immigrant protesters snarl New York
City morning commute
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[October 27, 2016]
By David Ingram
(Reuters) - Pro-immigrant protesters
chained themselves together and blocked lanes on the George Washington
Bridge between New Jersey and New York City on Wednesday, briefly
halting traffic during the morning rush on the busiest U.S. bridge.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the
bridge, said delays were as long as 90 minutes on the bridge's upper
level on the city-bound side.
Ten protesters were arrested, Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman
said.
The protesters held a sign that read, "Deport ICE," an acronym for U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Coleman said.
The immigration agency oversees thousands of deportations weekly and has
deported more than 2 million immigrants under Democratic President
Barack Obama, more than under any previous administration.
An organization calling itself the Laundry Workers Center said on its
website that it helped organize the protesters, who it said included
immigrants and supporters.
"The immigrant community is tired of being in the shadows," Laundry
Workers Center co-director Mahoma López said in a statement on the
website.
"For many years we are here, we contribute, we pay taxes, we build this
country, but in the end, we don't have the right to participate in the
decisions at the local and national levels," the statement said.
No one from the center could immediately be reached for comment.
According to the website, the Laundry Workers Center assists laundry,
warehouse and food service workers.
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Police officers detain protesters who had been holding a
pro-immigrant sign while blocking several lanes of the upper level
of the George Washington Bridge in New York, New York, U.S. October
26, 2016. @sosui140/Handout via REUTERS
Pictures posted on social media showed the protesters clasping a
banner that read, "Resist, organized, rise up!"
They began blocking east-bound traffic at about 8:15 a.m. and were
removed from the roadway by 8:30, Coleman said. All lanes had
reopened by 8:50, he said, adding that there were no injuries or
property damage.
On social media, people recalled the "Bridgegate" lane closures at
the same span in 2013. Two aides to New Jersey's Republican governor
Chris Christie are on trial in connection with the scandal, charged
with ordering traffic gridlock as pay back for a mayor who had
declined to endorse Christie's reelection bid.
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