DACA Repeal: 34 Arrested At Protests Outside Trump Tower

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — More than 30 protesters were arrested at sit-ins Tuesday morning near Trump Tower after the president's administration announced it would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects the children of undocumented immigrants from deportation, according to officials.

Protesters blocked off Fifth Avenue near East 56th Street, an action that led to multiple arrests, reporters on the scene said on social media. A second group of protesters was arrested for blocking the intersection at Fifth Avenue and East 57th Street.

NYPD Chief of Patrol Terence A. Monahan said 34 people were arrested during protests outside Trump Tower. Twelve people were arrested for blocking Fifth Avenue and East 56th Street, and 22 people were arrested for blocking Fifth Avenue and East 57th Street. (For more news about your NYC neighborhood, subscribe to Patch to get a daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.)

The protesters who were arrested will all be charged with disorderly conduct, Monahan said Tuesday. Another protest was planned at Foley Square Tuesday evening.

More protests against the Trump administration's reversal on DACA are planned for Tuesday evening at Foley Square.

Watch: The Trump Administration Just Announced The End Of DACA

The activist group Movimiento Cosecha was involved in organizing the protest, according to a press release.

"We are angry for all the young undocumented immigrants that haven’t turned 16 yet and are waiting to apply for DACA. We are angry, for all the DACA parents that could lose the job that supported their family. We are angry, for all the plans that DACA recipients had that now seem impossible," Thais Marques, a spokesman for the group, said in a statement.

"But we are also strong; and no politician- not Trump... can take that away from us. Our strength and resilience have never depended on a work permit."

DACA recipient Erick Arce, 20, attended the protest at Trump Tower. Arce — a junior at New Jersey City University — told Patch that he is afraid he will lose his scholarship when DACA is repealed.

"I don't know what I'll do," Arce told Patch. "I'm angry and concerned for my future."

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to defend DACA recipients Tuesday morning.

"We warned you not to threaten our neighbors," de Blasio tweeted at Trump . "New York City will fight to defend our Dreamers."

President Barack Obama released a statement Tuesday calling the Trump administration's decision to get rid of DACA a political decision.

"Let’s be clear: the action taken today isn’t required legally. It’s a political decision, and a moral question," Obama said in a statement.

Read Obama's full statement below:

Protesters gathered near the William Tecumseh Sherman monument in Central Park Tuesday before marching on Trump Tower, according to multiple reports.

According to a Politico report, President Donald Trump plans to end the Obama-era program, and the White House plans to delay enforcing the action by six months. According to Politico, in the deliberations leading up to the decision, Attorney General Jeff Sessions argued to Trump that it was Congress and not the executive branch that is responsible for immigration law, helping to persuade the president to end the program.

Patch editor Kathleen Culliton contributed to this article.

Photo by Kathleen Culliton/Patch