Susan Sarandon among 630 women arrested while protesting Trump's immigration policy
Veteran actress and activist Susan Sarandon was among the 575 women who were arrested on Thursday in Washington after staging a sit-in protest against Donald Trump's zero-tolerance immigration policy.
While the actress tweeted extensively throughout the rally, her fellow female protestors held up placards with messages demanding the end of the immigration camps and declaring "We care" — a jibe at Melania Trump's controversial jacket which she had worn while visiting a detainment center last week that read "I don't really care. Do you?"
The actress also posted about chants which the protestors cried out during the protest such as: "What do we want? Free families!” and “This is what democracy looks like” before the women were arrested, charged and then released."
The actor tweeted again when the protestors were being rounded up by the police: "Arrested. Stay strong. Keep fighting. #WomenDisobey."
According to Huffington Post, around 630 women were arrested during the rally which was being led by organizers of the Women's March including Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash).
The rally also saw the involvement of several politicians like Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N. Y.) and Jeff Merkley (D- Ore.), and Reps Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and John Lewis (D-Ga.).
The report stated that the Capitol Police informed that the demonstrators were processed on site and released. The rally, which saw the participation of around 2,500 protestors, marched from the Department of Justice to the Hart Senate Office Building. Most female demonstrators wore white clothes and were wrapped in foil blankets, almost like the migrant families who are held in federal detention centers.
Susan Sarandon has been one of the many politically controversial figures from Hollywood who have been extremely vocal against Trump's immigration policy.
According to Trump's zero-tolerance policy, families who migrate to seek asylum in the US illegally are being split apart as their children are being taken away from them, who are then labeled as "unaccompanied minors" and are taken into government custody while their parents are labeled as criminals. Till date, more than 2,300 children have been detained after the policy was implemented.
The Guardian states that the actress has encountered hostility since the presidential elections because she had suggested that people vote for a third party candidate (Jill Stein, the nominee of Green party), which in a way had reduced the number of ballots cast for Hillary Clinton.
The article quotes her saying, "I did think she was very, very dangerous. We would still be fracking, we would be at war [if she was president]. It wouldn’t be much smoother. Look what happened under Obama that we didn’t notice.”
Sarandon had told People that she was optimistic about America's capacity to bring about an actual change since people are "awake and scared." The article quotes Sarandon, "I’m actually optimistic because I think we’re seeing an amazing revolution happening... Not by the people that claim to be political but by Americans, and I have great faith in America. You’re seeing more people running that have never run... If you’re acting and you’re paying attention — you have to constantly be calling your representatives,” she added. “And, ultimately, it could make a difference.”