Protesters gather outside conference hosting Attorney General Jeff Sessions

At least 100 people were outside protesting at the Ramada Palms Hotel where U.S. Attorney General Jeff Session was a guest speaker for a sheriff’s conference.

The crowd held up signs and chanted, calling for “de-militarization of the border.” When Sessions’ motorcade finally arrived, the crowd chanted “shame,” and moved off the sidewalk, closer to the hotel.

There was a heavy security presence outside of the conference. Officers told the protestors to move back onto the sidewalk and out of the street.

“Our community is gathered here today to make sure that Jeff Sessions knows he is not welcome here,” Joana Bencomo with NMCAFe said. “Las Cruces, Dona Ana County have worked very hard to be an inclusive community.”

“Our solution is not border walls or deploying soldiers that don’t have any expertise in enforcing civilian law,” Fernando Garcia, the executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights said. “I think the solution is not to consider immigrant families as the enemy. Our solution is immigration reform.”

Several state representatives also offered a different solution for border security and fighting against drug cartels and human smuggling.

“Increase investment in our port facility like they did in Arizona,” Representative Nathan Small said. “That’s the way to catch all of that, instead of spreading it out all along very remote stretches of the border.”