Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Ill.) was handcuffed for a short period of time on Monday after refusing to leave a meeting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Chicago.
The meeting included about 22 advocates, attorneys, community leaders, and other local elected officials, NBC affiliate Chicago5 reported.
"They were asking about specific cases and about the general conduct of ICE and deportations," Gutierrez's director of communications, Douglas Rivlin, said at a news conference.
We are staying until we get answers from ICE Aqui nos quedamos hasta que nos den respuestas de ICE #CHIRESIST #twill pic.twitter.com/Z6RlLHGiH6
— Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) March 13, 2017
"The congressman has decided that he did not get the answers he was looking for from the ICE regional director and he's going to be staying inside until he gets answers, even if that means risking arrest," Rivlin added.
The news of Gutierrez's arrest came after seven others refused to leave the meeting.
Federal police giving us our first warning that we risk arrest if we stay at Chicago ICE HQ.#chiresist #twill pic.twitter.com/M77rU0EgGs
— Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) March 13, 2017
Gutierrez tweeted news of his brief arrest from his official Twitter account.
I was arrested, cuffed then cuffs were cut off. Waiting for further word on if/when we will be arrested. #chiresist pic.twitter.com/vKJRnz6Ebj
— Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) March 13, 2017
"Specific immigration cases discussed in the meeting included Army veteran Miguel Perez Jr., according to Rivlin, as well as Francisca Lino, whose husband and four of her six children are U.S. citizens," Chicago5 reported.
"The congressman first met with the same ICE regional director in 2008 about this case, about getting a deferral from deportation," Rivlin said. "Ms. Lino came in regularly for meetings with ICE every year as a condition for her deferred deportation, and a couple of weeks ago she was told that she would need to get her bags together and has a specific date for when she is going to be deported in July. The congressman is asking that that deportation be canceled."
Gutierrez was reportedly part of a group of Hispanic congressmen barred from a meeting with a top federal immigration enforcement official last month.