As former Vice President Joe Biden prepared his closing statement at the Nevada Democratic primary debate on Wednesday night, protesters began to yell “You deported 3 million people.”
The crowed booed as protested continued to yell, and Biden began speaking again once they left the room.
The undetermined number of protesters seem to be referring to to Biden’s role in the Obama administration, which deported over 3 million people.
The immigrant rights organization the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES, took credit for the protest on social media.
“BREAKING: We are interrupting @JoeBiden at the #DemDebate chanting #DontLookAway and #NoKidsInCages. We need a Democratic candidate to adopt the #MigrantJusticePlatform and commit themselves to improve the lives of migrants and refugees!” they tweeted.
In a video posted by RAICES Action on Twitter, protests can be heard saying “We don’t want you. We want the Migrant Justice Platform.”
On social media, RAICES linked to the Migrant Justice Platform, an immigration reform proposal agreed upon by a number of nonprofits. The platform includes a pledge to “to halt all deportations.”
“This entire #DemDebate only had one question on the issue of immigration. it is @realDonaldTrump‘s number one issue,” the group added in a follow-up tweet.
RAICES’s Chief of Advocacy Erika Andiola posted a video with RAICE’s Communications Manager Lucia Allain taking credit for the outcry, saying that they protested because “for the past three debates there have been absolutely no questions about immigration.”
“We are being the most attacked by Trump administration, and we deserve a conversation about how our lives are going to look like if any of those people get elected,” she said, adding that they’re “not sorry.”“Nevada, come out vote, this is about our lives, about the lives of all Americans,” Andiola said at the close of the video. “But we’re asking you please, don’t look away. This is the time act on immigration.”