Staff and guests at an upscale dinner in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC received a wakeup call on Wednesday, September 6. Footage shows a group of patrons who were seemingly enjoying selections from the establishment's menu stood up and began chanting in protest of the President's order to rescind protections granted to the children of immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Approximately 30 activists, most of whom are themselves 'Dreamers' who benefited from the policy, were able to organize the demonstration by dressing in business casual clothing, and packing bullhorns and noisemakers in briefcases. Shortly after settling down in the first-floor restaurant area, they unpacked their tools of dissent and interrupted the evening with calls for justice, information pamphlets and banners reading “Immigrants are #HereToStay.” The demonstration was one of more than 30 protests that were happening on Wednesday; a day in which immigration advocates occupied some 18 congressional offices in Pennsylvania, according to the Center for Popular Democracy.
While the future of DACA remains up in the air in hindsight of President Trump announcing that he is giving Congress six months to modify the policy. The move (even if indefinite) sparked another wave of resistance against the President's already embattled administration. Meanwhile, top lawmakers from amongst both the Democratic and Republican parties have called upon colleagues to obstruct against any attempts to follow through with the President's order, which he says he will revisit if no action is taken by the deadline he has provided.
