Saturday, August 3, 2013

HORRIFYING CONDITIONS IN IMMIGRATION DETENTION

FROM FEMINISTING


Dream 9 exposing horrifying conditions in immigration detention

Share on TumblrSubmit to StumbleUponDigg ThisShare via email
8 members of the Dream 9 in graduation gowns and caps
8 members of the Dream 9 (Credit: Steve Pavey/One Horizon Institute via Colorlines)
Last week, the Dream 9 crossed the border from Mexico into the United States in broad daylight by a border patrol station in Nogales. Their intention was to infiltrate and organize the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, as well as to petition to return to their longtime homes in the United States on the grounds of humanitarian parole.
The action has grown into a hunger strike to protest the conditions at Eloy, a detention center that removes more than 1,000 people from the United States daily. The activists claim that their phone use was unfairly restricted and six were placed in solitary confinement. As of yesterday morning, two of these activists have been in complete isolation for over four days, including Lulu Martinez, an undocumented and queer activist who came to the United States when she was 3 years old. It’s important to remember here that solitary confinement for any significant period of time, though common, is torture.
It appears that their requests for humanitarian parole may have been denied, and they are now seeking asylum based on “credible fear” of persecution should they return home. You can learn more about the Dream 9 and their actions at the NIYA website, and you can sign a petition asking the President and the Office of General Counsel to grant parole, and show your support for the Dream 9, here.

No comments:

Post a Comment