City councilman arrested during massive DACA protest

City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez was arrested Tuesday night, along with several others, during DACA protests in Lower Manhattan.

The local lawmaker, who is vying to become the next speaker, was among thousands of people who gathered at Foley Square to protest against President Trump’s decision to do away with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals act — which grants amnesty to the children of illegal immigrants.

Rodriguez (D-Manhattan) later tweeted about getting thrown in cuffs and why he was demonstrating.

“Just been arrested fighting for our undocumented brothers and sisters near Foley Sq,” he said. “We stand united behind them and their quest for justice. This is Civil Disobedience against unjust laws & policies that rip parents from their children, DACA Dreamers from sole country they know. The hatred and xenophobic policies emanating from Washington are unacceptable. I will always stand by my fellow immigrants.”

Rodriguez, a Dominican-American, was walking onto Park Row — blocking traffic and chanting with marchers in a suit and tie — when he was taken into custody.

The councilman has a history of getting arrested while protesting.

During Occupy Wall Street, he allegedly got into a scuffle with a female NYPD officer as he attempted to get past a police barrier near Zuccotti Park — leading cops to charge him with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. The case was later dropped, though, after the woman chose not to testify.

On Tuesday, Rodriguez was joined by thousands of immigrants — like himself — who brandished signs with messages like “Dreamers Already Make America Great” and “I Stand With #ImmigrantNY.”

“Say it loud, say it clear! Immigrants are welcome here!” the group chanted. “Up! Up! With liberation! Down with deportation!”

Nearly a dozen people wound up being arrested for blocking the street, including Rodriguez. As they were cuffed, protesters cheered in approval.

“We have lived for so long in the shadows,” said Angelo Cabrera, a 42-year-old visa holder who lives in Queens. “Right now is the time to fight.”

Isamar Padilla, a 25-year-old “dreamer” who came to the United States from Mexico at the age of 5, described how she became “numb” after hearing the news that President Trump had rescinded DACA.

“We will never feel fully comfortable until something permanent passes,” she said, while holding up a sign that read, “We Refuse To Go Back In The Shadows.”

The crowd at Foley Square eventually cleared out at around 7 p.m., with a several hundred marching across the Brooklyn Bridge.

The demonstrations capped off a busy day for protesters, as more than 50 people were arrested Tuesday near Trump Tower and elsewhere in the city. Several were said to be DACA recipients.

“There are a lot of uncertainties,” explained Jung Rae Jang, a 27-year-old “dreamer” from Flushing.

“Congress has been very dysfunctional. They have had a hard time passing any type of meaningful immigration measures,” he said. “It will be interesting to see what happens in the next six months.”