Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) has declared that migrant family separation at the border is his next civil rights cause.
The congressman declared he'll "go to the borders" and is even "prepared to go to jail" to end the controversial policy in a news conference Wednesday, reflecting on his many arrests fighting for civil justice over the past 50 years.
"If we fail to do it, history will not be kind to us," Lewis said, before asking Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) to tell him "whatever you want me to do" to reunite children with their families.
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Lewis joined Gutierrez and other House Democrats in a press conference outside the Capitol on Wednesday. The lawmakers then took advantage of a House rule that says each member can bring two children under the age of 12 into the chamber, per the Chicago Sun-Times, bringing children into the building to make a point about the family separations. Democrats continued their speeches inside, where Lewis again pleaded Congress to "stop the madness." The in-House protest ended when Gutierrez called the visiting children onto the floor and spoke beyond the few minutes he was allowed.
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