Group of protesters temporarily blocks off access to Tornillo tent facility

A group of immigrant rights protesters blocked off access to the Tornillo tent facility, which is housing thousands of undocumented immigrant teenagers, on Monday night.

The group calls itself “Christmas in Tornillo: The Occupation” and its goal is for the facility to be closed down because they say it’s inhumane to have teenagers in detention.

The group, holding banners and posters, stood in front of one of the entrances to the facility. In doing so, they also blocked access to the Marcelino Serna International Port of Entry.

It happened around 6 p.m. Federal police with the Department of Homeland Security confronted the group and told them to move since they are blocking an entrance to federal property.

The protesters have come from different parts of the country.

“We’re taking a stand. We’d like to encourage those on the buses to find employment elsewhere,” said Fran Tatu, a protester from Washington state. “We’ve been promised that the center will be closed mid January, if not by the end of the year. This is our plea.”

ABC-7’s Mauricio Casillas will be live from outside the Tornillo tent facility tonight at 10 p.m.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #454545}