Courtesy of APALA One of the arrested protesters is led away by U.S. Capitol Police.

Nineteen Asian-Americans protesting outside Speaker Paul Ryan’s office on Capitol Hill were arrested Wednesday while calling for him to move the Dream Act to a vote. A coalition of Asian-American organizations were rallying to push Congress to pass the legislation that would protect young undocumented immigrants. The 19 individuals were charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding, a spokesperson for U.S. Capitol Police told HuffPost.

Courtesy of APALA

Those arrested said they were prepared to face the consequences to defend the rights of the undocumented community. “I stood with my sisters and brothers to be arrested today because the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community can no longer stand idly by while Congress and the Trump administration criminalize immigrants and people of color,” Luisa Blue, who was one of those arrested and is a founding member of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), told HuffPost. The people arrested, who were reportedly blocking Ryan’s office, were released the same day.

Courtesy of APALA The protesters were gathered outside Speaker Paul Ryan's office.

APALA is part of the coalition, the AAPI Immigrant Organizing Table, as are the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium and the HANA Center, among others. They were demanding a “clean” Dream Act, which would provide a pathway for Dreamers to obtain citizenship without adding measures that would harm other immigrants.