Former Detainees, Racial Justice Organizations Demand DHS End Its Private Prison Contracts With Protest At Homeland Security Offices

Individuals who have survived Homeland Security detention centers will be accompanied by a national coalition of immigrant and racial justice organizations to deliver petitions signed by more than 200,000 individuals during a press conference at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

 

WASHINGTON, DC – In the wake of the Department of Justice moving to cancel its private prison contracts, Color Of Change, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) and Mijente will deliver testimonies and 200,000 petitions to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on September 28 to demand that DHS follow suit and end immigrant detention center private contracts as well. These companies lobby for and profit from racist laws and policies that target Black communities, which are disproportionately represented in immigration detention centers they operate.

The petition signatures were collected by a coalition joined by other progressive and legal rights organizations including CREDO Action, Presente, Daily Kos, America’s Voice, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

WHAT:           Tribunal, Petition Delivery and Press Conference Demanding the Department of Homeland Security End All Private Prison Contracts and Stop the Over-Reliance on Detention for Immigration Enforcement.

WHEN:           Wednesday, September 28 at 11a ET

WHERE:        U.S. Department of Homeland Security

300 7th St SW, Washington, DC 20024

WHO:             Speakers:

• Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of Color Of Change
• Ben Ndugga-Kabuye, NYC Organizer from Black Alliance for Just Immigration
• Jacinta Gonzalez, Field Director from Mijente/Not1More Deportation Campaign
• Isa Noyola, Director of Programs at Transgender Law Center
• Ishalaa Ortega, community organizer and activist
• Individuals who have been detained in DHS facilities with private contracts from around the country, including Eloy Detention Center in Phoenix Arizona.

o   Elizabeth Padilla

o   Cindy Sujey Barrientos Escobar, mother of Wilhen Barrientos

o   Jaime Arturo Valdez Reyes

o   José Adán Torres Henriquez

o   Sonia Hernandez Cruz

o   Jenny Srey, wife of Ched Nin

View the petition here: http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/dhs-end-private-prisons/

Follow at #CutTheContracts and #Not1More