Thread: N.J. Immigrant Rights Advocates Protest At Elizabeth Detention Center

Immigrant Rights Advocates Protest At Elizabeth Detention Center
By John Moore (GETTY) – 23 minutes ago



ELIZABETH, NJ - DECEMBER 10: Protesters block the entrance of an immigrant detention center on December 10, 2013 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups marked international Human Rights Day, staging the civil disobedience action at the Elizabeth Detention Center, and eight protesters were arrested by police. Organizers said the event was designed to draw attention to the continued mass deportations of undocumented immigrants by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as Congress' inability to pass immigration reform. The Obama administration is on track to have removed 2 million immigrants from the United States, the most of any presidential administration. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

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Immigrant Rights Advocates Protest At Elizabeth Detention Center
By John Moore (GETTY) – 1 hour ago

ELIZABETH, NJ - DECEMBER 10: Protesters chained together block the entrance of an immigrant detention center on December 10, 2013 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups marked international Human Rights Day, staging the civil disobedience action at the Elizabeth Detention Center, and eight protesters were arrested by police. Organizers said the event was designed to draw attention to the continued mass deportations of undocumented immigrants by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as Congress' inability to pass immigration reform. The Obama administration is on track to have removed 2 million immigrants from the United States, the most of any presidential administration. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
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Eight arrested during protest of immigrant deportations in Elizabeth

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/201...elizabeth.html

Eight arrested during protest of immigrant deportations in Elizabeth



Elizabeth police officers talk to protesters outside the Elizabeth Detention Center this morning. (Tom Wright-Piersanti/The Star-Ledger)

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By Tom Wright-Piersanti/The Star-Ledger
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on December 10, 2013 at 11:45 AM

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ELIZABETH — Police arrested eight people who had formed a human chain this morning in front of the Elizabeth Detention Center in protest of the government’s deportation policies.
About 60 people chanted “not one more” and “education, not deportation” along industrial Evans Street, which houses the detention center, a nondescript beige one-story building operated by the private prison management company Corrections Corporation of America.
When Elizabeth police arrived around 7:45 a.m., eight of the protesters had formed a human chain across the street, their arms connected inside red two-foot-long PVC pipes.
“The idea here is they will take buses (out of the detention center) and deport them, so they can’t come through here if they have a human chain,” said Barbara Franz, a professor at Rider University who researches immigration and refugee movement.
As snow began to accumulate on the immobile protesters, police pleaded with them to get out of the street.
“I understand what you're doing and I sympathize with you,” a police lieutenant told the members of the chain. “You can protest as long as you like, but you can't block the street.”

“You know you’re going to jail, right?” said one Elizabeth police officer to a protester lying in the road. The protester responded by chanting more anti-deportation slogans.
“They don’t care,” another officer said.
Elizabeth firefighters were called in to use small buzz saws to cut through locks at either end of the chain, though police were temporarily stymied when they realized most of the protesters were secured into the PVC pipes, either by plastic ties or ropes.
Authorities spent about 20 minutes sawing the pipes apart and arresting each of the eight members of the chain without incident. A lieutenant at the scene said they would be charged with disorderly persons offenses.
Around 8:45 a.m., police loaded the eight snow-soaked protesters into a van and headed off to police headquarters.
“We had eight community members come out and literally lay their body down, because deportations are exceedingly high,” said Gabriela Benitez with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
Under President Obama, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported nearly 2 million people, including a record-high 409,849 in 2012, according to the agency. This year stands to be on pace with that, Benitez said.
“While they play political football over immigration reform, the reality is that over 1,100 people are deported every day, meaning 1,100 families are separated every day,” she said. “Just like (Obama) provided deferred action for childhood arrivals, he could provide that same deferred action to everybody while a solution comes in hand regarding immigration reform.”

“We’ve gone to these means not to inconvenience people, but because we have voted, we have marched, we have made calls, we have written letters, we have gone to courts, and yet the deportations continue,” said Benitez.
According to Franz, there is very little legal oversight concerning the detention and deportation of immigrants, and little help available to immigrants who get caught up in a system they don’t understand.
“There are so many hurdles in the system, it’s so stacked against these people, that I think it’s almost inhumane to do what they’re doing. They need a fair process,” she said.
“Imagine you’re coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, you were lucky enough to get on a plane to the U.S., you somehow get to Newark, but something is wrong with your passport or your paperwork, so they put you in (the detention center),” said Franz.
“You don’t speak English, you don’t know what to do. They’re probably going to hold you here for a while, then send you back to your country,” said said. “And if you’re an asylee or refugee, that could mean your life.”

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