On Aug. 1, I joined a civil disobedience action in Washington that resulted in mass arrests. We sat down on the crosswalk, linked arms and blocked traffic on Independence Street. We were protesting the failure of the House of Representatives to pass an immigration reform bill with a path to citizenship for 11 million new Americans.
Prior to the action, I closed my eyes and saw many faces.
I saw Gerardo, who is fighting for citizenship not just for himself, but also for his mom. She's a seamstress who has been undocumented for 25 years.
I saw the Rojas family, facing separation after the immigration service went to their home looking for somebody else and took their father instead.
I saw Lesley, a brave 11-year-old, who has seen two of her childhood friends end up in foster care and fears that the immigration service will one day take her parents away.
Our collective action marked the first day in an arc of "40 days of prayer and action" to step up pressure on members of Congress to stop delaying a vote and to stop catering to the politics of intolerance best exemplified by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who equates certain immigrants with animals.
It is not enough for House members to distance themselves from King's rhetoric; they must act. If House leaders scheduled a vote on reform with a path to citizenship right now, a bipartisan majority of members in the House would vote for it.
It was only fitting that we were arrested on Independence Street. We hope it was a reminder to our elected officials to do right by the immigrants among us.
Christine Neumann-Ortiz is the executive director of Voces de la Frontera in Milwaukee. She wrote this for Progressive Media Project, www.progressive.org.