As immigration reform groups threatened to publicly confront Republicans on the issue of amnesty, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, warned House colleagues to “be prepared” for immigration protests, the Daily Caller reported Tuesday.
“Let me just take note of the fact and in as calm a voice as I might do so … as I understand it before I came into the chambers there were persons expressing their First Amendment rights and obviously through the protocol of this committee were removed from the committee but they were expressing their consternation, their frustration, their hurt and their pain,” she said.
Earlier, pro-immigration reform protesters were escorted out of the hearing room after shouting, “Citizenship now! Families together!” at lawmakers.
A pro-amnesty group called “Reform Immigration For America” took credit for the protest in a tweet.
“We got kicked out w/ @Re4mimmigration,” the group said.
“We will be a thorn in your side, every single day. We will be in your face. Get used to seeing us,” the group later said in another tweet.
Another group, Fair Immigration Reform Movement, also claimed credit for the outburst.
Lee warned her colleagues to expect protests by supporters of amnesty for illegal immigrants this summer.
“Fifty years ago when African Americans were experiencing that kind of pain, they engaged in something called Freedom Summer and it was to emphasize to the nation that we are in essence deserving of a fair plane and justice,” she said. “And so as a member of Congress I am committed to abiding by the law but I would expect that we will see thousands upon thousands of individuals from all backgrounds coming to this Congress in the summer and finally saying ‘enough is enough.’”
“Be prepared for those who are feeling the pain of injustice,” she warned, after tying her statement to the issue of asylum fraud.
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