They marched more than three miles in Newark, determined to stop what could be one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country.
Holding signs that read “Don’t Detain, Don’t Deport, Keep Families Together” and “No Human Being Is Illegal,” scores of people gathered in Newark to protest a proposed detention facility that would house hundreds of immigrants.
The protesters, many of them advocates of more lenient immigration policies, believe U.S. officials should rely less on arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants, and more on helping legalize those who do not pose a danger to the public.
“This detention center symbolically represents the huge focus that our government has paid to jailing and deporting immigrants without regard to the impact on our families and communities,” said Amy Gottlieb, director of the Immigrant Rights Program for the American Friends Service Committee.
“We need to say that the laws are fundamentally unfair, and they need to be fixed in a way that keeps families together, keeps communities together, does not demonize or scapegoat people, and recognizes the fundamental value that immigrants bring to our communities.”
Feb 17: Rev. Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale issued a challenge to President Obama at the rally.
Feb 17: Claudia Usma, right, leads the march through downtown Newark to the Essex County Jail 3 miles away. Related Links Chipotle Mulls Over Use of E-Verify for Immigration Status after Minnesota Chipotle Workers Fired over Immigration Status Sue for BackpayRecently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which was looking for a new detention facility near the New York metropolitan area, said it had entered into negotiations with Essex County for a 2,700-bed facility.
A service agreement for the facility has not been finalized, but Essex County officials have proposed expanding the existing Essex County Correctional Facility to accommodate the additional immigrant detainees. The facility already houses some immigration detainees at a per-bed rate of $105 per day, according to ICE.
“ICE has tentatively selected Essex County, N.J., to be awarded an Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) for the operation and management of 2,700 beds for immigration detainees,” said Harold Ort, an ICE spokesman, in a written statement. “At this time, ICE and Essex County continue to work through the details of this tentative selection. If and when a formal selection occurs, the appropriate notifications will be made.”
Those who oppose the project include many immigration advocates who say that people who have no criminal records should not be jailed for immigration violations, which are civil matters.
“People often assume that these people are criminals, but they are everyday women, everyday men, everyday youth,” said a protester, Karol Ruiz, a community organizer with Wind of the Spirit, a non-profit group in Morristown, N.J. that assists immigrants. “There are students incarcerated, there are mothers incarcerated, caring loving fathers and husbands incarcerated, and we wanted to show solidarity with them.”
The protesters said they want immigration officials to make greater use of what they say are more humane and cost-effective solutions to immigrant detention, such as releasing people to their families while they await legal proceedings or allowing people to wear ankle monitoring bracelets to ensure compliance with court dates.
They marched more than three miles in Newark, determined to stop what could be one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country.
ReplyDeleteHolding signs that read “Don’t Detain, Don’t Deport, Keep Families Together” and “No Human Being Is Illegal,” scores of people gathered in Newark to protest a proposed detention facility that would house hundreds of immigrants.
The protesters, many of them advocates of more lenient immigration policies, believe U.S. officials should rely less on arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants, and more on helping legalize those who do not pose a danger to the public.
“This detention center symbolically represents the huge focus that our government has paid to jailing and deporting immigrants without regard to the impact on our families and communities,” said Amy Gottlieb, director of the Immigrant Rights Program for the American Friends Service Committee.
“We need to say that the laws are fundamentally unfair, and they need to be fixed in a way that keeps families together, keeps communities together, does not demonize or scapegoat people, and recognizes the fundamental value that immigrants bring to our communities.”
Feb 17: Rev. Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale issued a challenge to President Obama at the rally.
Feb 17: Claudia Usma, right, leads the march through downtown Newark to the Essex County Jail 3 miles away.
Related Links
Chipotle Mulls Over Use of E-Verify for Immigration Status after Minnesota
Chipotle Workers Fired over Immigration Status Sue for BackpayRecently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which was looking for a new detention facility near the New York metropolitan area, said it had entered into negotiations with Essex County for a 2,700-bed facility.
A service agreement for the facility has not been finalized, but Essex County officials have proposed expanding the existing Essex County Correctional Facility to accommodate the additional immigrant detainees. The facility already houses some immigration detainees at a per-bed rate of $105 per day, according to ICE.
“ICE has tentatively selected Essex County, N.J., to be awarded an Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) for the operation and management of 2,700 beds for immigration detainees,” said Harold Ort, an ICE spokesman, in a written statement. “At this time, ICE and Essex County continue to work through the details of this tentative selection. If and when a formal selection occurs, the appropriate notifications will be made.”
Those who oppose the project include many immigration advocates who say that people who have no criminal records should not be jailed for immigration violations, which are civil matters.
“People often assume that these people are criminals, but they are everyday women, everyday men, everyday youth,” said a protester, Karol Ruiz, a community organizer with Wind of the Spirit, a non-profit group in Morristown, N.J. that assists immigrants. “There are students incarcerated, there are mothers incarcerated, caring loving fathers and husbands incarcerated, and we wanted to show solidarity with them.”
The protesters said they want immigration officials to make greater use of what they say are more humane and cost-effective solutions to immigrant detention, such as releasing people to their families while they await legal proceedings or allowing people to wear ankle monitoring bracelets to ensure compliance with court dates.