RALEIGH — Six demonstrators were arrested for blocking traffic after protesters chained themselves together in front of the North Carolina Governor’s mansion Thursday.

It came after Pat McCrory signed HB318 into law the day before. The new law prevents local municipalities from adopting “sanctuary city” policies and protecting undocumented workers.

“The immigrant community is waking up,” said Carmen Rodriguez, one of the protesters who was chained together, in a statement put out by the group Southeast Immigrant Rights Network – or SEIRN.

Rodriguez said she is an undocumented mother of three US Citizen children who has lived and worked in Raleigh for over ten years. “We are losing our fear to raise our voices and confront this racism, face to face,” she said.

The six protesters chained together in the street unfurled a banner that read “stop the hate we make America great”. They were joined by about 100 protesters on a nearby sidewalk.

Police used power tools to cut the protesters apart before arresting them.

Taken into custody were 24-year-old Ivanna Cristina Gonzalez, 32-year-old Martha Iliana Santillan-Carril, 30-year-old Maria Carmen Rodriguez, 28-year-old Nayely Irais Perez-Huerta, 47-year-old David Salazar-Montalvo, and 37-year-old Angeline Marie Echeverria. They are charged with resisting a public officer.

From ABC-11