Seventy people were arrested while participating in a protest against the Trump administration's immigration policies organized by more than a dozen Catholic groups. Photo courtesy FransiscanActionNet/Twitter

July 18 (UPI) -- Police in Washington, D.C., arrested a group of Catholics protesting the Trump administration's immigration policy.

U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said 70 people were arrested for "unlawfully demonstrating in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building" as part of a protest organized by Catholic human rights group Franciscan Action Network, The Hill reported.


A video shared by Sisters of Mercy, one of 15 Catholic organizations involved in the protests, showed a group of demonstrators surrounding five people lying on the ground in the shape of a cross as police arrived and began carrying out arrests.

The demonstrators carried photographs of migrant children who died in federal custody and chanted their names in the building's rotunda.

"We are here today because our faith. The gospel compels us to act," said Sister Ann Scholz, assistant director for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious' social mission said. "We are outraged at the horrific treatment of families and especially children. The inhumane treatment of children being done in our name must stop."

Franciscan Action Network's executive director, Patrick Carolan told America magazine the organization was "horrified" by the treatment of children at the border.

"We've been talking and decided that we had to do something," he said. "We are trying to get Catholics across the country to rise up and reclaim our faith."

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Earlier this week Jewish organizations participated in a protest organized by Never Again Action that began on the National Mall and ended outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.