Susan Sarandon was among 575 women arrested in Washington on Thursday after they staged a sit-in protest against Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy inside a Senate office at the Department of Justice.

The actor tweeted extensively from the rally, at which she and fellow protesters held aloft placards demanding an end to immigration camps and declaring, “We care” – a reference to the controversial jacket worn by first lady Melania Trump when visiting a detainment centre last week.

There were chants of “What do we want? Free families!” and “This is what democracy looks like” before the women were arrested, charged and then released.

Organisers the Women’s March and the Center for Popular Democracy sported foil blankets like those worn by children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border.

Sarandon has encountered hostility since Trump’s election, with many blaming her for suggesting people vote for a third-party candidate, Green party nominee Jill Stein, potentially reducing the number of ballots cast for Democratic party candidate Hillary Clinton.

Speaking to the Guardian last year, Sarandon, 71, confirmed that she still felt Clinton was in some ways more dangerous than Trump.

“I did think she was very, very dangerous. We would still be fracking, we would be at war [if she was president]. It wouldn’t be much smoother. Look what happened under Obama that we didn’t notice.”