SAN FRANCISCO — Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the U.S. House, was shouted down Monday by protesters at an event in her hometown of San Francisco where she planned to drum up support for legislation that would grant legal status to immigrants like those who protested.
The demonstrators were angered by Pelosi’s recent talks with President Trump about the federal program that shields from deportation hundreds of thousands of young immigrants.
“We are immigrant youth, undocumented and unafraid,” several dozen young people chanted as they overtook the event.
After smiling and occasionally trying to speak through much of the protest, an aggravated Pelosi told the protesters to “just stop it now,” shortly before she was led out of the room.
She was appearing with Democratic U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee and Jared Huffman at College Track San Francisco, a program to expand college access. She was scheduled to appear Monday afternoon in Sacramento for a similar event.
The protests appeared aimed at Pelosi’s recent engagement with Trump on the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which gives temporary legal protections to immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children or whose parents overstayed visas. Trump said in early September he will halt the program in six months if Congress does not act to continue it.
Last week, Pelosi and Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer met with Trump twice and discussed a deal to extend the program. Schumer and Pelosi said they reached a deal with the White House that did not include funding for Trump’s promised border wall. But the White House and Congressional Republicans say nothing is finalized.
“Democrats created an out-of-control deportation machine,” the protesters yelled. “Democrats are not the resistance to Trump.”
“You’ve had your say, and it’s beautiful,” Pelosi told the demonstrators at one point. But the shouting did not stop.
The protesters also urged Pelosi to “demand a clean bill,” and “shut down ICE,” referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“I know some people think this hurts the cause of undocumented folks, but undocumented people will always be scapegoated,” Luis Serrano, one of the organizers, said.
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