House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was set to hold a press conference in support of the DREAM act in San Francisco Monday, but the event was derailed after DREAMer protestors stormed the hall, drowning the congresswoman out with chants.
As Pelosi stood at a podium, a group of undocumented protestors entered the hall chanting “we are not a bargaining chip,” and holding signs that read “Democrats are Deporters.”
Casey Tolan, a political reporter for The Mercury News, attended the press conference and posted a number of videos of the disruption to Twitter:
“We demand a truly clean bill” … “we are not your marketing chip” protesters shout at Pelosi pic.twitter.com/dW55FQlWH6
— Casey Tolan (@caseytolan) September 18, 2017
Protesters are accusing Pelosi and Democrats of creating the “deportation machine” used by Trump pic.twitter.com/WRork6nGmI
— Casey Tolan (@caseytolan) September 18, 2017
Undocumented protesters again shout down Pelosi as she tries to tell them “I totally agree with you” pic.twitter.com/thITAnBX4I
— Casey Tolan (@caseytolan) September 18, 2017
The protestors were ostensibly upset with Pelosi’s dealmaking with President Donald Trump: the congresswoman, along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, met with Trump last week to discuss how to protect DREAMers. Immigration activists fear that the Democratic leaders will give too much ground in compromising with a president that has expressed hardline views on immigration.
Eventually, after 30 minutes of disruptions, Pelosi was forced to leave her own press conference:
Pelosi walks out of her own press conference, shouted down by undocumented protesters pic.twitter.com/xM9zwByvNu
— Casey Tolan (@caseytolan) September 18, 2017
Watch the presser go off the rails above.
[image via screengrab]
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