Kathy O'Leary at The Union County Courthouse on Ash Wednesday Pilgrimage...

Kathy O'Leary of Pax Christi NJ (formerly a board member of First Friends of NJ & NY) at the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth, NJ, speaking about Union County's compliance with ICE detainers, especially relevant in the light of the Third Circuit Court Of Appeals ruling the previous week that compliance is entirely voluntary. She addresses the paradox that the county claims no responsibility for the treatment of immigrant detainees at Corrections Corporation Of America (CCA)'s facility at EDC - even as it cooperates with the for-profit prison by helping to fill its beds, in this county that prides itself on its immigrant population.

This action was part of the 5th Annual Ash Wednesday Pilgrimage For Dismantling of the Detention and Deportation Machine that Feeds the Prison Industrial Complex At Sites Across New Jersey on Wednesday, March 5, 2014.

https://www.facebook.com/events/210937349105529/

Ironically, Union County has since ceased to blindly honor all ICE detainers:

https://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/aclu-nj-applauds-union-county-first-countywide-policy-nj-declining-immigration

More about Pax Christi NJ may be found here:

http://paxsummit.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/70959325050
https://twitter.com/PaxChristiNJ

This was near the end of a day-long series of events in 4 cities in New Jersey, Including a 10-Mile March from Ellis Island to the Elizabeth Detention Center; which culminated in the 18th Annual Vigil at EDC. People from across the state representing over a dozen faith-based, community, youth, and immigrant rights groups, & families of current & former detainees (including members from Pax Christi USA New Jersey, IRATE & First Friends, PICO-NJ, American Friends Service Committee AFSC Immigrant Rights Program, Wind of the Spirit and New Jersey Advocates For Immigrant Detainees or NJAID), The Most Rev. Bernard Hebda, Presiding Co-Adjutor Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark; The Most Reverend Thomas A. Donato, DD, Regional Bishop for Hudson County of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark; Rev. Canon Petero Sabune; Yves Nibungco, chairperson Anakbayan USA; Ana Bonilla Martinez, organizer, Wind of the Spirit; Luke Nephew, spoken word artist and member The Peace Poets) gathered in Camden, Elizabeth, Jersey City & Newark to call for the dismantling of the detention and deportation machine that is feeding the prison industrial complex.

Participants drew attention to the interconnectedness of our county's projection of military and economic power abroad with the flow of migrants and the way in which the detention and deportation machine feeds the prison industrial complex, tearing apart families in the process. Vigils, rallies and protests including prayer, music and testimony to call attention to our country's foreign policies that force people to migrate, were held to call for a halt to the detentions and deportations that are tearing apart families and to call for an end to prison profiteering.

Actions were held at Liberty State Park, the Hudson County Administration Bldg., St. Peter's University's Panepinto Plaza, St. James Church, the offices of Senators Cory Booker & Robert Menendez at One Gateway Center, the Rodino Federal Bldg., the Essex County Hall of Records, the Union County Courthouse, & EDC (a for-profit facility operated by the Corrections Corporation of America or CCA, where ICE first started incarcerating immigrants in NJ almost two decades ago).

A public statement against for-profit incarceration was made at the Board of Chosen Freeholders Meeting at the Essex County Hall of Records at 7pm. And there was also a mass held in solidarity at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Camden & a press conference with the family of a released detainee.

You can find the press release here:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/casa-esperanza/press-release-for-ash-wednesday-pilgrimageday-of-action-against-immigrant-detent/10152235270748537

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

Kathy O'Leary at the DREAMS NOT DETENTION Bus Tour & Vigils To End Immig...

Kathy O'Leary of Pax Christi USA's #NewJersey contingent & at the time a board member of First Friends of NJ & NY, speaking outside the #ElizabethDetentionCenter at the end of the tour of every single facility which holds #immigrants in #immigrantdetention in New Jersey - regarding the 2500 detainees being held every day in the state, the mendacity of #ICE and the immorality of #immigrationdetention, the #institutionalizedracism #racism & #discrimination on the basis of #religion, #class, & #countryoforigin; & the #caracola & the #JerichoWalk : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD1Z12uFRDo

#immigration #immigrationlaw #immigrationcourts #immigrantrights #EDC #DHS #HomelandSecurity #border #mandatorydetention #asylum #asylumlaw #internationallaw #civilrights #humanrights #protests #vigils

J. Amos Caley on the DREAMS NOT DETENTION Bus Tour & Vigils To End Immig...

#‎Video‬ of J Amos Caley of the Reformed Church of Highland Park ‪#‎HighlandPark‬ speaking at the ‪#‎ElizabethDetentionCenter‬ in Elizabeth, New Jersey ‪#‎Elizabeth‬ ‪#‎NewJersey‬ ‪#‎NJ‬ as part of the DREAMS Not Detention Bus Tour & Vigils Campaign To End ‪#‎ImmigrantDetention‬ (10-8-12) on ‪#‎visitation‬ & being a ‪#‎visitor‬ at Delaney Hall & the Elizabeth Detention Center - Department of Homeland Security; the pre-dawn ‪#‎raids‬ of ‪#‎Indonesians‬ in the mid-aughts & the breakup of ‪#‎families‬, the ruining of ‪#‎marriages‬, & the devastation wrought in individuals' lives from their subsequent ‪#‎immigrationdetention‬ & ‪#‎deportation‬; the audacity & intransigence of the ‪#‎ICE‬ officials who hold the lives of ‪#‎immigrantdetainees‬ in their hands as well as the ‪#‎abuseofpower‬ which ‪#‎mandatorydetention‬ & ‪#‎privateprisons‬
have encouraged to thrive; the callous lack of response from elected
officials & especially the Barack Obama administration (which has
continually broken records for detention & deportation), the broken
promises, the lies & deception, and the irrationality of expanding
detention when ‪#‎AlternativesToDetention‬ or ‪#‎ATDs‬ will cost the taxpayer a fraction of the investment in ‪#‎prisons‬ & ‪#‎jails‬ which the ‪#‎government‬ has made (at the same time as they pretend to be trying to balance the ‪#‎budget‬) - all summed up brilliantly by this young man who has dedicated so much time & energy to the fight for ‪#‎immigrantrights‬ & the ‪#‎dueprocess‬ ‪#‎rights‬ of the ‪#‎Constitution‬ : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc1dGKmM_EY

Ash Wednesday Pilgrimage 2014 : Filthy Rotten System's Emancipation Song...

#FilthyRottenSystem doing Bob Marley's Emancipation Song into Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land at #LibertyStatePark, across the footbridge from #EllisIsland & within sight of the #StatueOfLiberty, for the 5th Annual #AshWednesday #Pilgrimage For Dismantling of the #Detention and #Deportation Machine that Feeds the #Prison Industrial Complex At Sites Across New Jersey on Wednesday, March 5, 2014.

https://www.facebook.com/events/210937349105529/

This was the beginning of a day-long series of events in 4 cities in #NewJersey, including a 10-Mile March from Ellis Island to the Elizabeth Detention Center; which culminated in the 18th Annual #Vigil at #EDC. People from across the state representing over a dozen #faith-based, #community, #youth, and #immigrantrights groups, & families of current & former #detainees
(including members from Pax Christi USA New Jersey Chapter or PCNJ,
IRATE & First Friends, PICO-NJ, American Friends Service Committee #AFSC #Immigrant #Rights
Program, Wind of the Spirit and New Jersey Advocates For Immigrant
Detainees or NJAID), The Most Rev. Bernard Hebda, Presiding Co-Adjutor
Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark; The Most
Reverend Thomas A. Donato, DD, Regional Bishop for Hudson County of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark; Rev. Canon Petero Sabune; Yves
Nibungco, chairperson Anakbayan USA; Ana Bonilla Martinez, organizer,
Wind of the Spirit; Luke Nephew, spoken word artist and member The Peace
Poets) gathered in #Camden, #Elizabeth, #JerseyCity & #Newark to call for the dismantling of the detention and deportation machine that is feeding the prison industrial complex.

Participants drew attention to the interconnectedness of our county's projection of #military and economic power abroad with the flow of #migrants
and the way in which the detention and deportation machine feeds the
prison industrial complex, tearing apart families in the process. #Vigils, #rallies and #protests
including prayer, music and testimony to call attention to our
country's foreign policies that force people to migrate, were held to
call for a halt to the detentions and deportations that are tearing
apart families and to call for an end to prison profiteering.


Actions were held at Liberty State Park, the Hudson County
Administration Bldg., St. Peter's University's Panepinto Plaza, St.
James Church, the offices of Senators Cory Booker & Robert Menendez
at One Gateway Center, the Rodino Federal Bldg., the Essex County Hall
of Records, the Union County Courthouse, & EDC (a for-profit
facility operated by the Corrections Corporation of America or CCA,
where ICE first started incarcerating immigrants in NJ almost two
decades ago).

A public statement against for-profit
incarceration was made at the Board of Chosen Freeholders Meeting at the
Essex County Hall of Records at 7pm. And there was also a mass held in
solidarity at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Camden & a
press conference with the family of a released detainee.

You can find the press release here:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/casa-esperanza/press-release-for-ash-wednesday-pilgrimageday-of-action-against-immigrant-detent/10152235270748537

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opGMGCoIqNg

Ash Wednesday Pilgrimage 2014 : Luke Nephew Of The Peace Poets

)



Luke Nephew of The Peace Poets recites his poem "Falling In SolidarityNYC", speaking truth to power about making love political & hate unpopular, food for thought, marching for justice, hope for community, the struggle to end immigrant detention, the beauty of freedom, & the difficulties of unity, optimism about a future where the police state doesn't bomb innocent people & war is impossible, where army recruiting facilities are shut down & human beings are incapable of being exploited as machines.

Luke spoke at #LibertyStatePark, across the footbridge from #EllisIsland & within sight of the #StatueOfLiberty, for the 5th Annual #AshWednesday #Pilgrimage For Dismantling of the #Detention and #Deportation Machine that Feeds the #Prison Industrial Complex At Sites Across New Jersey on Wednesday, March 5, 2014.

This was the beginning of a day-long series of events in 4 cities in #NewJersey, including a 10-Mile March from Ellis Island to the Elizabeth Detention Center; which culminated in the 18th Annual #Vigil at #EDC. People from across the state representing over a dozen #faith-based, #community, #youth, and #immigrantrights groups, & families of current & former #detainees (including members from Pax Christi USA New Jersey Chapter or PCNJ, IRATE & First Friends, PICO-NJ, American Friends Service Committee #AFSC #Immigrant #Rights Program, Wind of the Spirit and New Jersey Advocates For Immigrant Detainees or NJAID), The Most Rev. Bernard Hebda, Presiding Co-Adjutor Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark; The Most Reverend Thomas A. Donato, DD, Regional Bishop for Hudson County of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark; Rev. Canon Petero Sabune; Yves Nibungco, chairperson Anakbayan USA; Ana Bonilla Martinez, organizer, Wind of the Spirit; Luke Nephew, spoken word artist and member The Peace Poets) gathered in #Camden, #Elizabeth, #JerseyCity & #Newark to call for the dismantling of the detention and deportation machine that is feeding the prison industrial complex.

Participants drew attention to the interconnectedness of our county's projection of #military and economic power abroad with the flow of #migrants and the way in which the detention and deportation machine feeds the prison industrial complex, tearing apart families in the process. #Vigils, #rallies and #protests including prayer, music and testimony to call attention to our country's foreign policies that force people to migrate, were held to call for a halt to the detentions and deportations that are tearing apart families and to call for an end to prison profiteering.

Actions were held at Liberty State Park, the Hudson County Administration Bldg., St. Peter's University's Panepinto Plaza, St. James Church, the offices of Senators Cory Booker & Robert Menendez at One Gateway Center, the Rodino Federal Bldg., the Essex County Hall of Records, the Union County Courthouse, & EDC (a for-profit facility operated by the Corrections Corporation of America or CCA, where ICE first started incarcerating immigrants in NJ almost two decades ago).

A public statement against for-profit incarceration was made at the Board of Chosen Freeholders Meeting at the Essex County Hall of Records at 7pm. And there was also a mass held in solidarity at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Camden & a press conference with the family of a released detainee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWp4GjchWCs