Demonstrators Gather In Lower Manhattan In Support Of Ravi Ragbir

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Demonstrators expressing their support for immigrant rights and immigration activist Ravi Ragbir gathered in lower Manhattan Saturday to reaffirm their solidarity with the immigrant community and celebrate the fact that immigration officials had agreed to put Ragbir's deportation on hold at the last minute.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan agreed to temporarily stay Ragbir's deportation on Friday after his legal team, along with local and nationwide advocacy groups, filed a First Amendment lawsuit Friday accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other officials of targeting immigrant-activists. Ragbir was scheduled to be deported to Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday.

Protesters gathered outside the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service office at Federal Plaza Saturday. Photos and videos of the rally posted to social media showed that a large crowd had gathered outside the building in lower Manhattan. The crowd's message to federal immigration officials was that they would not tolerate people being separated from their families and would continue to fight for immigrants.

U.S. Reps Nydia Velazquez and Yvette Clarke and New York City public advocate Tish James were among public officials who spoke at the rally in support of Ragbir. Clarke had sharp words for ICE officials, saying their actions were akin to domestic terrorism. Amy Gottlieb, Ragbir's wife, said at the rally that activists were done with people being snatched away from their families.

Protesters used the hashtag #YouCan'tDeportAMovement to show that the movement to protect immigrants wasn't going anywhere. Felipe De La Hoz, a reporter who was at the rally, said activists circled the USCIS building before kneeling in prayer. He said the entire building appeared to be encircled.

Ragbir's deportation was halted over an hour before a federal judge in New Jersey heard arguments on whether he could also put a stay on Ragbir's deportation. That hearing ended without a decision, Ragbir's legal team said.

Ragbir is the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City, a group that aims to protect immigrants from deportation. He has lived in the U.S. since 1991. A judge ordered him deported in 2006 after he served prison time for a 2001 federal wire fraud conviction. ICE allowed him to stay in the country with regular check-ins until officials decided to arrest and deport him in January, saying he lacked a legal basis to remain in the U.S.

Ragbir's lawyers are fighting in New Jersey federal court to overturn the criminal conviction on which his deportation was predicated.

Noah Manskar contributed to this report.

Photo by Bebeto Matthews, File/Associated Press