Seven arrested in Etowah Immigration Protest

Seven people were arrested Monday for refusing to disperse from an immigration protest at the Etowah County Detention Center. Many of the activitsts chained themselves together and blocked the entrance to the detention center.   Between 80 and 100 protestors gathered at the detention center at 10 a.m. Monday morning  and several chained themselves to the front door. Gadsden police, the Etowah County Sheriff's Office and Etowah County special response team were on standby during the rally.   Sheriff's officials closed down three blocks of Forrest Avenue in front of the detention center during the rally. Around 10:40 a.m., a deputy announced over a loud speaker that if they didn't move away from the building, they would be arrested. Most of the crowd moved to the sidewalk, but a handful stayed chained to the building's front doors.  Deputies arrested the people who remained chained to the front doors. The rest of the group marched for several blocks down the street to a parking lot of an abandoned building and continued to protest there until noon. Arrested for failing to disperse and resisting arrest were,  31 year old -Gabriel Eric Machabanski, of Birmingham,  22 year old David Alejandro Comparan-Rojas, of Dothan, 41 year old Carlos Humberto Ramos-Colorado, of Alexander City,  33 year old Terestia Flores, of Alexander City, 31 year old Evelyn Servin, of Russellville, 50 year old Monica Hernandez, of College Park, Ga. And 30 year old  Gwendolyn Ferreti, of Tuscaloosa.  In a statement, the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice said the seven undocumented Alabama residents and their supporters locked themselves together as part of the national campaign demanding that President Obama use his executive authority to stop deportations and the separation of families.  The group says 1,100 people are deported from the country each day and called the Etowah County Detention Center part of the largest immigrant detention infrastructure in the world.