Jewish activists at a Capitol Hill protest against President Trump’s DACA plans. Photo: Reuters TV.

Police on Capitol Hill arrested a group of Jewish civil rights activists on Wednesday at the height of a protest against President Donald Trump’s plans to end protection from deportation for the children of undocumented immigrants to the US.

Chanting “Let My People Stay” and “We Shall Not Be Moved,” the demonstrators — who included members of the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform communities, some of them wearing Jewish prayer shawls — staged a sit-in on the floor of the Russell Senate Office Building, at which point the police moved in and arrested a number of them.

Jewish community leaders and activists hold a sit-in on Capitol Hill and sing "we shall not be moved" in support of DREAMers and immigrants pic.twitter.com/ls2ek8frDn

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 17, 2018

Wednesday’s demonstration was organized by a coalition of US Jewish advocacy organizations, among them the Anti-Defamation League, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Religious Action Center of the Reform Movement, and the progressive organization Bend The Arc. Several of Democratic legislators attended the protest, including Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who said, “What you hear behind me is the strength of democracy.”

The protesters handed over a petition that has so far drawn the signatures of 5,000 people. “As Jews, we recognize the dangers of President Trump’s inhumane policies and scapegoating of immigrants — we’ve seen this before,” the petition stated. “We stand with our immigrant neighbors on the side of justice, not oppression, of liberation, not deportation.”

The protest followed Tuesday’s request from the Department of Justice asking the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that blocked the president’s move to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Thank you @bend_thearc, @TheRAC @ADL_National , @UNITEDWEDREAM, @NCJW, @truahrabbis and many others for fighting #TheGoodFight in support of DREAMers #LetMyPeopleStay #DreamActNow pic.twitter.com/zz8DpXocEx

— Michele Freed (@freedmichele) January 17, 2018

@SenatorDurbin Next best thing to being able to thank you in person is having @CantorShimi do it! #DACA #DreamActNow #letmypeoplestay @TheRAC @JonahPesner pic.twitter.com/URGp4kl9Li

— Rachel Roth 🟦🏳️‍🌈🇮🇱🎗️🏈 (@MrsJroChicago) January 17, 2018