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About 575 Arrested as Women March on Capitol Hill to Protest Trump Immigration Policy

More than 1,000 female activists marched through Washington Thursday to protest the separation of children from their immigration parents at the US-Mexico border.

US Capitol Police arrested approximately 575 individuals with unlawfully demonstrating, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington.

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The protestors chanted “abolish ICE” as well as “where are the children?” as well as other chants that are hard to hear within the building.

The activists sat on the floor of the Senate building with emergency blankets to demand Congress act to end the Trump administration policies that criminalize and detain undocumented immigrants and separates their children from them.

Congress is set to leave town for a week-long recess without passing any legislation to address the situation at the US border. On Wednesday, the House failed to pass legislation that would have address in part several high-profile immigration-related policies including border wall funding and an eventual pathway to citizenship for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

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Ali H. Soufan on Twitter

A year after the Women’s March, a record number of women are running for office. Will they win? By Danny Hayes January 19 The Washington Post

A record number of women are running

This year’s congressional elections are likely to feature a record number of female candidates. As of this week, the Center for American Women and Politics had identified 390 women who have filed or are likely to file as U.S. House candidates and 49 women likely to run for the U.S. Senate. Among House candidates, the vast majority — 82 percent — are not incumbents. If those numbers hold up, it would constitute the largest pool of female congressional candidates in history.

Many women say they’re running because they were furious about Trump’s election, especially after the “Access Hollywood” tape, and energized by the Women’s March in Washington the day after his inauguration.

Ali H. Soufan on Twitter