Saturday, July 13, 2019

Mass protests demand end to concentration camps, protection of immigrant's rights

At protests throughout the United States on July 12, thousands called on government leaders to end the detention of immigrants and protect their rights. Raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency are expected to take place in 10 cities on Sunday in an effort to detain 2,000 immigrants.

In Washington D.C., hundreds gathered to protest and raise awareness of immigrant detention. A group from the American Federation of Teachers marched to the event, chanting “classrooms, not cages.” In New York, over 1,000 gathered at Foley Square. People at the rally carried signs that said “We see people dehumanized” and “Don’t look away.”

In hundreds of other locales, similar actions took place. In Wausau, Wisconsin, a group of about 30 convened at a park, sharing messages of solidarity with immigrants. “We are a small city, but people need to know we care about them,” said event organizer Lisa Ort-Sondergard. Her background in child protection allowed her to see first hand the trauma that is inflicted when family members are forcibly separated. “It is trauma that can’t be undone -- what if that is your child being caged?”

On July 12, about 30 people gathered in downtown Wausau, Wisconsin for a protest action against the detention and mistreatment of immigrants in the United States.
Wausau resident Jeff Johnson said “America has a history of doing this. We did this with Native Americans--stole their children--and during World War II, Japanese Americans were interned. This is not the first time, but history tells us we were wrong. I hope everyone here is understanding and realizing how contrary these actions are to what you and I learned was the American Idea, which does not include separating families, mistreating people, turning people away who risked their lives to get here.”

Advocates, activists and impacted persons spoke at these events on the issue of detention camps in the United States, and they based their action on the following principles and demands developed by the Lights for Liberty organization. Participants lit candles in a silent vigil for all those held in US detention camps to bring light to the darkness of the Trump administration’s horrific policies.

  1. We believe in the rights and freedoms of all to pursue a better life.
  2. We believe that everyone has the right to live, to work and to prosper.
  3. We recognize that it is the desire for work and for safety that drives immigrants to the United States.
  4. We recognize that seeking asylum is a universal human right.
  5. We demand an end to the criminalization of migrants.
  6. We demand the recognition that every migrant is as human, as worthy, and as important to the fabric of society as any US citizen.
  7. We demand the abolition of family detention, family separation, and all US detention camps.
  8. We demand the abolition of the imprisonment of migrants.
  9. We demand the abolition of the deadly “Remain in Mexico” program,and of all migrant persecution protocols.
  10. We demand the abolition of deportation, and a return of those already deported, to the United States, at the government’s expense.
  11. We demand family reunification for every migrant child separated from a family member or guardian.
  12. We demand an end to double jeopardy for migrants - a repeal of the 1996 IIRIRA laws that punish migrants twice for the same crime.
  13. We demand recognition that the US immigration system is built upon racism and rooted in the belief in racial hierarchy. We demand an end to the complicity between the immigration and criminal justice systems that deprive black and brown people of dignity and freedom.
  14. We recognize that climate change is a driving force behind regional and international displacement, that the consequences of climate change are extremely serious for refugees and other people of concern, and that climate change will be a driving force behind migration in the coming years.
  15. We demand the passage of the Green New Deal.
  16. We demand an end to any laws or de facto policies that prevent people from entering the United States on the basis of race or religion.
  17. We condemn the discriminatory treatment of LGBTQ+ and disabled migrants in US detention camps, including by placing LGBTQ+ and disabled migrants in solitary confinement or in isolation areas. We demand that every migrant be treated with dignity, equity, and respect, and receive medical services as needed.
  18. We demand recognition of the gender identity of transgender migrants, that they not be misgendered in any immigration facility,and that they be provided access to transition-related healthcare as requested.
  19. We demand that the violent, lawless institutions known as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) be abolished.
  20. We demand mandatory cultural and racial sensitivity training for any US official assigned to any aspect of US immigration policy enforcement.
  21. We demand public, televised trials to hold every government officer and official in the chain of command of the Trump administration, or any private actor, accountable for crimes against humanity as perpetrated at the border and in US immigration detention camps, whether by ICE, CBP, or a private company running any such detention facility.
  22. We demand #NotOneMoreDollar for the Department of Homeland Security until all those responsible for atrocities in US detention camps are held accountable, every detention camp is closed, and all those seeking asylum are freed.
  23. We demand no pardons for any person engaged in or responsible for the atrocities that are currently ongoing at the border and in US detention camps.
  24. We demand that the US become a signatory to the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
  25. We demand the creation of a Victims Compensation Fund, similar to that created for 9/11 victims, administered by an outside mediator,for all those who have been victimized by and in US immigration detention camps.
  26. We demand the complete end to all forms of immigration detention, and we will be here for as long as it takes, until the United States lives fully and completely into the principles of freedom, dignity,equity and respect for all, and the principle of do no harm.

Sources

“‘Unconscionable & Unacceptable’: Rep. BarragΓ‘n Decries Detention of Migrant Children in Prison Cells.” Democracy Now!, 11 July 2019, www.democracynow.org/2019/7/11/nanette_barragan_immigration_jails_dismantling_dhs.

Resto-Montero, Gabriela. “Mayors and Protesters Remain Defiant Ahead of ICE Raids: ‘You’Re Going to Have to Come through Us.’” Vox, 13 July 2019, www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/7/13/20693099/ice-raids-trump-chicago-new-york-san-francisco-denver-mayors-protesters.

Sanchez, Olivia. “Chants of 'Classrooms, Not Cages' as Hundreds Gather for DC 'Lights for Liberty' Vigil.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 13 July 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/12/lights-liberty-dc-immigration-vigil-hundreds-gather-protest/1710297001/.