DA Won't Prosecute 18 Arrested At Immigration Protest

Never Again Action protests at the holocaust memorial in Boston — Never Again Action protests at the Holocaust memorial in Boston on July 2, 2019.

July 03, 2019

BOSTON (AP) — Boston's district attorney is not pursuing charges against 18 people arrested outside a Boston jail during a protest against the Trump administration's immigration policies.

Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said Wednesday she filed court papers ending the prosecution in the cases.

"The protestors’ peaceful challenge of the inhumane detention policies of the Trump administration is protected by the First Amendment," Rollins said in a statement.

The protesters were to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on Wednesday.

Hundreds of protesters marched from the downtown New England Holocaust Memorial to the Suffolk County House of Corrections on Tuesday evening calling for closure of migrant camps at the country's southern border.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement houses some detainees at the Boston jail. The rally was organized by Never Again Action, a national group that also coordinated similar protests across the country.