ACTION

Police  arrest 8 House members at immigration rally

.; Luis  Gutiérrez, D-Ill

arrested by  U.S. Capitol Police

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least  eight Democratic members of the House were among about 200 people  arrested Tuesday after they blocked a main street near the Capitol during a  massive rally seeking to push Republicans to hold a vote on a stalled  immigration reform bill.

Police would not identify those  arrested. Representatives of the social policy organization Center for Community  Change and The Associated Press witnessed the arrests of Reps. John Lewis,  D-Ga.; Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill.; Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz.; Keith Ellison, D-Minn.;  John Crowley and Charles Rangel, both D-N.Y.; Al Green, D-Texas; and Jan  Schakowsky, D-Ill.,

Representatives of other groups whose  members attended the rally, such as United Farm Workers and Farmworker Justice,  confirmed that several of their members were arrested as well.

Those arrested will be charged with  "crowding, obstructing and incommoding" under the local laws of the District of  Columbia, the Capitol Police said. The arrests began about 4 p.m. EDT and had  ended two hours later, police said in a statement.

Before being arrested, Gutiérrez said  he planned the act of civil disobedience "so the speaker of the House can free  Congress and finally pass immigration reform."

The rally took place after the six-time  Grammy winners Los Tigres del Norte performed at the National Mall during a show  in which the Mexican band dedicated each song to the estimated 11 million  immigrants living in the United States illegally.

Prospects for passage of a  comprehensive immigration bill appear dim. A bill passed by the  Democratic-controlled Senate and backed by the White House includes billions of  dollars for border security as well as a 13-year path to citizenship for those  already in the U.S. illegally.

It's unclear whether the GOP-dominated House will ever pass legislation that could form the basis for a final deal with the Senate. Most House Republicans have rejected this comprehensive approach, and the House Judiciary Committee has moved forward with individual, single-issue immigration bills that could come to the floor sometime later this year or next.

Citing the demonstration, the White  House issued a statement calling for the House to take up the immigration  bill.

"The enthusiastic demonstration of  support for immigration reform this week has proven to Congress that the broad  coalition behind commonsense solutions to our nation's broken immigration laws  is as strong as it has ever been," according to the statement from press  secretary Jay Carney. "It's time for the House of Representatives to reopen the  government, pay their bills and get back to the important work of moving the  economy forward."

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