In Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport on Sunday, between 300 and 500 self-identified illegal immigrants stormed a terminal and occupied it for about three hours, preventing access to flights, to demand they be given papers to remain in France.

Both the New York Post and blog Heavy.com reported that the protesting illegal immigrants said they would not leave or allow access to the terminal until they were allowed to speak with French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.

Watch.

#Breaking: Just in - Reports that undocumented immigrants are protesting in the Charles de Gaulle Airport in #Paris right now and won't let people board their flights until they meet and talk with with the prime minister Édouard Philippe of #France, Riot CRS police on the scene. pic.twitter.com/fextoWCs6S

— Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁‏ (@sotiridi) May 19, 2019

Plusieurs centaines de sans papiers envahissent le Terminal 2 de l'aéroport Roissy pour dénoncer les expulsions et le traitement des sans papiers. Utilisation de gaz lacrymogènes par les policiers.



Ils veulent parler au PDG d'Air France et au premier ministre Edouard Philippe. pic.twitter.com/DGNlJGVf1o

— Remy Buisine (@RemyBuisine) May 19, 2019

"France does not belong to the French! Everyone has a right to be here!" shouts one occupier.

It is impossible for any American witnessing the events not to think of issues surrounding immigration here in the United States, which could explain why there was so little coverage of the dramatic scenes in the American press. Just last summer, Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in an interview with far-left Democracy Now! called for the occupation of American airports over Trump administration immigration policies.

Here's more from Heavy:

French media reported that the group of protesters, who were calling themselves the "black jackets," were all of African origin. The group issued a manifesto titled "The Black Jackets Are Seeking the Prime Minister." The manifesto demanded better conditions for undocumented immigrants who are held in Charles de Gaulle airport. It also criticized the conditions under which the airline Air France expels would-be immigrants

The situation lasted for hours as social media shared videos and CNN didn't.

#Update: Just in - The undocumented immigrants are only occupying the terminal 2 of the Charles de Gaulle Airport in #Paris, and these flights have now been delayed until further notice. Reports that CRS riot police is going to take action some outlets says.

— Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁‏ (@sotiridi) May 19, 2019

#Update: Just in - All of these undocumented immigrants are from African decent, and are demanding that prime minister Édouard Philippe, will give all of them permanent legal status and papers to stay in #France. And saying we will not leave Charles de Gaulle Airport in #Paris. pic.twitter.com/lWLonHL6ww

— Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁‏ (@sotiridi) May 19, 2019

#Update: Just in - Video of the moment these 400 African illegal immigrants stormed in the terminal of the Charles de Gaulle Airport in #Paris. #France pic.twitter.com/vPaxkpseDz

— Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁‏ (@sotiridi) May 19, 2019

#Update: And here are they screaming give us all the papers we need and stop the deportation of our friends, at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in #Paris. and demand prime minister Édouard Philippe, will give all of them permanent legal status to stay in #France. pic.twitter.com/AH8K1BdkGH

— Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁‏ (@sotiridi) May 19, 2019

#Breaking: Just in - The situation around the Charles de Gaulle Airport in #Paris has ended, when 400 illegal African immigrants stormed the terminal and demanded from prime minister Édouard Philippe, will give all of them permanent legal status to stay in #France.

— Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁‏ (@sotiridi) May 19, 2019

A French activist group posted the demands on Facebook: Papers now! Papers for everyone! They also included this photo.



Weekly French news magazine Le Point spoke with one of the organizers of the protest, who promised "other actions will follow," in what is now a series of such protests. In January, hundreds of "undocumented" immigrants and migrants seeking asylum gathered outside a police station to demand they be given papers making them legal. The groups insists France, and all its social services, is for everyone, not just the French citizens.

