Massive Immigrant-Led Protest Shuts Down Manhattan Bridge

At least “1,000 immigrant NYers just shut down the Manhattan Bridge” as they demand “citizenship for essential workers,” tweeted Make the Road New York, a progressive grassroots immigrant-led organization.

“Immigrants are here to stay and we’re marching across the Manhattan Bridge to demand inclusion in the federal budget reconciliation process,” the progressive organization said.

Social media was full of videos from community organizing groups and people participating in what appears to be a planned and highly organized march across the Manhattan Bridge.

Drone footage shows hundreds, if not at least a thousand protesters shutting down traffic on the bridge

Taxicab drivers also joined the march.

Earlier this month, President Biden called for bipartisan action on a pathway to citizenship for immigrants.

“We need an immigration system that both reflects our values and upholds our laws. We can do both,” Biden said.

“The president said there should be a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, for foreign-born people who have temporary protected status due to strife in their birth countries and for farm workers. Biden’s comments, however, stopped short of the legislative proposal he’s endorsed, which includes a much broader option for most immigrants to apply for legal status and then seek citizenship,” AP said at the time.