Debbie, who do you represent: Floridians or for-profit prisons?

MEDIA ADVISORY: Thursday, May 31st at 11:00 a.m.

Contact: Natalia Jaramillo, natalia@floridaimmigrant.org, (786) 317-3524, @FLImmigrant

Debbie, who do you represent: Floridians or for-profit prisons?
Latinos, residents and advocates deliver 12,000 petitions to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Miami asking her to stop the building of a CCA immigration detention center in South Florida

What: Rally, delivery of petition signatures and march

Where: Office of Rep. Debbie WassermanSchultz – Aventura
19200 West Country Club Drive
Aventura, FL 33180

When: Thursday, May 31st at 11”00 a.m

Who: Family members of Floridians currently in private detention centers, Latinos, residents, immigration and civil rights advocates

Visuals: Signs, youth, march towards Biscayne Boulevard

Miami, FL – On Thursday, a wide and diverse group of concerned South Floridians, and community advocates will visit Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz office in Miami to ask her publicly to oppose the building of a for-profit immigrant detention center in her district. During the demonstration, a delegation will visit her office to deliver over 12,000 signatures from a national petition called “Debbie: say no to CCA”.

For more information on the event, visit: CCA Go Away

Since 2011, residents of Southwest Broward, immigrant communities and diverse advocates have been working to stop the building of this massive immigration prison in the town of Southwest Ranches by for-profit prison giant, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). These efforts include several requests to Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to withdraw a letter of support she sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director, Gary Mead, in April 2011, and to intervene with ICE to stop the project. Despite overwhelming and broad opposition, she has refused to withdraw her support to the proposed prison.

“For close to a year, we’ve been nicely yet persistently saying that Latino and immigrant families in her district and all over South Florida will be hurt by this prison.” says Maria Rodriguez, Executive Director for the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “Our fears and tears will no longer go unheard and ignored! The Congresswoman should represent the interests of all Florida families, not for-profit prisons.”

Organizations present at the event: Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER), ACLU

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