Advertisement New Orleans group calls on ICE, lawmakers to end deportations Kids rally to get parents back ahead of mothers day Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Even as the rain soaked the chalk artwork, posters and people, a group of about 35 protesters, including children, chanted steps away from a downtown New Orleans Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.The crowd called for ICE agents to stop deportations and to end the arrests of people who are not national security risks.“What we seen in the past few weeks and months is a crazy amount of abusive arrests,” Chloe Sigal said.That's not how some lawmakers see it. Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise wants people who come into the country to do it the right way.“If you want to come here there's a legal way to do it. Just follow the laws and you can become a citizen of the United States, but anyone that wants to ignore the law there is going to be pushback as there should be,” Scalise said.The group that supports immigrant rights, The Congress of Day Laborers, called for the release of all of the people arrested in recent ICE roundups. Ruth Larios, who talked to us through an interpreter, said she's constantly under the threat of arrest even though she hasn't committed any crimes.“I actually have a deportation order and I’m here for my daughters and my three daughters. We are going to be separated when I am deported. I think it's not right that I came here fleeing the violence that was in my country and to try and have a better life for my daughters," she said.They're also trying to rebrand who they are as a group. They want people to stop using the word illegals because they said they're undocumented.“I think there's been a movement towards really being intentional about word usage. It's a political choice to call somebody illegal. The entire purpose is to delegitimize someone's existence,” Sigal said.Keep up with local news, weather and current events with the WDSU app here. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news right in your inbox. Click here to sign up!