A protest outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in downtown Los Angeles left 18 people under arrest, including L.A. Councilman Mike Bonin, authorities said.

The protest which blocked the driveway and entrances leading to the ICE facility near Alameda and Aliso streets took place Monday.

Chanting, “Shut down ICE,” the protesters were led by Bonin and Rabbi Jonathan Klein as the kickoff to Tuesday’s nationwide protests against the immigrant detentions camps, including the so-called “kiddie jails” that have sprung up along the border.

The protest was near the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility that had been used to house detainees in ICE custody.

“The news, the images and the sounds of the Trump administration’s cruel and sadistic zero tolerance policy have wrenched my heart. As an American I am appalled. As a father, I am sick and angry,” Bonin said in a statement he released after his arrest.

“When the government rips kids from their parents’ arms, opens baby jails and throws families seeking asylum into internent camps, our common humanity is at risk. How does a parent not risk arrest,” Bonin said.

Bonin and the other 17 people arrested were booked into jail by Los Angeles police and then released.

Protesters left candles, dried flowers and posters along the street in front of the ICE office that read, “Justice for the Children, Keep families Together and Free the Kids,” CBS2 reported.

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