Open Your Hearts To The Children Vigil at EDC (10-12-14) : Kathy O'Leary

Kathy O'Leary of Pax Christi NJ (formerly a board member of First Friends of NJ & NY) speaks about the hardship of having to move to a different town in order to obtain the proper educational opportunity for her son; & reflects on the blessing of being afforded the right to mobility (& the right to flee persecution) whereas those who languish in immigration detention are not afforded that right.

Kathy spoke at the "Open Your Hearts To The Children" Children's Vigil To Support Human Rights - First Friends of NJ & NY's 16th Annual Vigil at The ‪#‎ElizabethDetentionCenter‬ (625 Evans St., Elizabeth, NJ, 07201 - off Dowd Ave.)

https://www.facebook.com/events/1505707183004888

The Annual Vigil is in recognition of the ‪#‎dignity‬ of each person, but especially the ‪#‎unaccompaniedmigrantchildren‬, as we stand in solidarity with our ‪#‎immigrant‬ sisters and brothers as a powerful collective voice seeking justice for those languishing in detention.

The number of unaccompanied migrant children has surged this year. Many of these children are fleeing from ‪#‎organizedcrime‬ and ‪#‎gangviolence‬, ‪#‎insecurity‬ and ‪#‎poverty‬ in their home countries. We want to ensure that the rights of children are protected, in accordance with U.S. obligations under ‪#‎internationallaw‬.

Every day, more and more children are seeking refuge in the ‪#‎UnitedStates‬. Desperate parents are sending their children to make the journey to the ‪#‎border‬ alone, and once they get here they are not wanted. The journey for anyone, let alone a child, can be extremely traumatic and the U.S. ‪#‎government‬ compounds the suffering of these children by placing them in detention under ‪#‎inhumane‬ conditions.

These children need protection, not detention!!!

First Friends is accepting ‪#‎donations‬ of toiletries, gift cards, and materials for our Stamp Out Despair Campaign

For More information or to co-sponsor contact: First Friends at 908-965-0455 / interns@firstfriendsnjny.org

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgOev-0Y6B4

Open Your Hearts To The Children Vigil at EDC (10-12-14) : Kimberly Roja...

Kimberly Rojas performs a marinera dance on Evans St. after the rally - due to unforeseen circumstances, she was unable to make it back on time to perform for the assembly, so we took it upon ourselves to record a dance so that everyone could see what we would otherwise have missed.



https://www.youtube.com/user/kimroja



"Open Your Hearts To The Children" Children's Vigil To Support Human Rights - First Friends of NJ & NY's 16th Annual Vigil at The ‪#‎ElizabethDetentionCenter‬ (625 Evans St., Elizabeth, NJ, 07201 - off Dowd Ave.)



https://www.facebook.com/events/1505707183004888



The Annual Vigil is in recognition of the ‪#‎dignity‬ of each person, but especially the ‪#‎unaccompaniedmigrantchildren‬, as we stand in solidarity with our ‪#‎immigrant‬ sisters and brothers as a powerful collective voice seeking justice for those languishing in detention.



The number of unaccompanied migrant children has surged this year. Many of these children are fleeing from ‪#‎organizedcrime‬ and ‪#‎gangviolence‬, ‪#‎insecurity‬ and ‪#‎poverty‬ in their home countries. We want to ensure that the rights of children are protected, in accordance with U.S. obligations under ‪#‎internationallaw‬.



Every day, more and more children are seeking refuge in the ‪#‎UnitedStates‬. Desperate parents are sending their children to make the journey to the ‪#‎border‬ alone, and once they get here they are not wanted. The journey for anyone, let alone a child, can be extremely traumatic and the U.S. ‪#‎government‬ compounds the suffering of these children by placing them in detention under ‪#‎inhumane‬ conditions.



These children need protection, not detention!!!



First Friends is accepting ‪#‎donations‬ of toiletries, gift cards, and materials for our Stamp Out Despair Campaign



For More information or to co-sponsor contact: First Friends at 908-965-0455 / interns@firstfriendsnjny.org



‪#‎immigration‬ ‪#‎immigrationdetention‬ ‪#‎immigrationlaw‬ ‪#‎immigrationcourts‬ ‪#‎law‬ ‪#‎courts‬ ‪#‎prisons‬ ‪#‎jails‬ ‪#‎privateprisons‬ ‪#‎UACs‬ ‪#‎SIJs‬ ‪#‎UnaccompaniedImmigrantChildren‬ ‪#‎UnaccompaniedMinors‬



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Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps, Esq. at the Ash Wednesday 2013 Pilgrimage To R...

#immigration #immigrationdetention #immigrationlaw #immigrationcourts #immigrationpolicy #immigrants #immigrantrights #immigrantdetention #Elizabeth #NewJersey #NJ #EDC #ElizabethDetentionCenter #CCA #corrections #privateprisons #privatecorrections #ICE #DHS #HomelandSecurity #Obama #ChrisChristie #MotherJones #government #politics #deportation #courts #law #Jesus #Mohammed

Kathy O'Leary at Delaney Hall on the DREAMS NOT DETENTION Bus Tour To En...

Kathy Wargo O'Leary of Pax Christi NJ (& at the time a board member of First Friends of NJ & NY) on the DREAMS Not DETENTION Bus Tour To End #ImmigrantDetention 2012 - she speaks about #DelaneyHall, #CommunityEducationCenters (#CEC), & the #EssexCounty Board Of #Freeholders;
the need for the people to reach out to their elected officials &
hold them accountable; the obscenity of the status quo of putting profit
over people & the inevitability of Occupy Wall Street - she scolds John Clancy for the manipulation of the truth he used to get his bid for CEC to have Delaney Hall house #immigrantdetainees, and the #environmentalracism as well as socio-political #racism which has helped drive the boom in #immigrationdetention in these #privateprisons,
in remote & toxic environments; & she reminds us of the people
that are suffering from lack of clean water, food & medical care
within this nation's #correctionalfacilities,
horrible enough on their own but especially atrocious considering that
most immigrants are detained on civil infractions, & routinely
denied due process rights to challenge their detention.

#NewJersey
advocates, faith leaders, & residents took a bus tour of the
state's jails which house immigrant detainees to tell local politicians
to choose "DREAMs not Detention" on Monday, October 8, 2012, in
commemoration of Indigenous Celebration Day.

Vigils were
organized in every NJ community that detains and profits from the
incarceration of immigrant workers, students, parents and community
members.

The bus left the #ElizabethDetentionCenter & stopped at jails in #Bergen, #Hudson, and #Essex
counties. All hold people suspected of being in violation immigration
laws in return for a per diem payment from Immigrations and Customs
Enforcement (#ICE). Vigils were also held in #Sussex and #Monmouth
counties which also hold immigrants for ICE. The bus will return for an
afternoon vigil to the Elizabeth Detention Center, the for-profit
facility operated by Corrections Corporation of America (#CCA) where ICE first started incarcerating #immigrants in #NJ over a decade ago.

The event was co-sponsored by: First Friends; Pax Christi NJ; AFSC Immigrant Rights Program - Newark; Wind of the Spirit; Felician Sisters of North America; Casa Esperanza; St Joseph Social Service Center; Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless; Reformed Church of Highland Park; Passaic County Coalition for Immigrant Rights; Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry - NJ Synod; NJ; St. Stephan's Grace Community - ELCA; Centro Jornaleros Unidos de Passaic; Action 21; NJ for Haiti Solidarity Network of the Northeast; Monmouth County Coalition of Immigrant Rights; (NJAID) New Jersey Advocates For Immigrant Detainees, Unidad Latina en Acción NJ; Casa Freehold; Shrine of St. Joseph - Sterling; Riverside Sojourners Immigration Detention Visitor Project; NJ Forum for Human Rights; Elizabeth Lutheran Center; JAN-NJ; Intentional Community -- Wyckoff

_______________________________________________


The press release for the event may be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/casa-esperanza/dreams-not-detention-bus-tour-vigils-to-end-immigration-detention-press-release-/10151189895933537

The facebook event is archived here:

http://www.facebook.com/events/361779337233916/

Pictures from the day may be viewed here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151192008088537.475467.122914673536&type=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-nIiEcNymk