[Sept 23, 2021] Rally Calling for Biden Administration and DHS Secretary Mayorkas To Shut Down Detention Centers, End Deportations and Release All People in Hudson County Correctional Center

[New York, NY] — On Thursday, September 23, the Abolish ICE NY/NJ Coalition, Families for Freedom, Queer Detainee Empowerment Project, and Make the Road NY will bring dozens of people together for a rally at Foley Square to shut down all detention centers, demand an end to deportations and release all people currently in Hudson County Correctional Center and all immigration detentions. Thursday’s rally and art performance is one of several actions taking place across the country during Detention Watch Network, FIRM Action, Mijente, United We Dream and the We Are Home Campaign’s “Communities Not Cages” National Day of Action. Thursday’s national day of action is an escalation of the campaign calling for the shutdown of all detention centers, including Hudson County Correctional Center. 

The Hudson County Correctional Center has a well-documented record of abuse and inhumane conditions, including egregious medical neglect, punitive isolation and preventable death. The COVID-19 pandemic has merely exacerbated the cruelty of these conditions and has proven that, while there have been improvements in the medical unit, these improvements are not sufficient. Hudson County has now informed ICE that they will no longer house immigrants as of November 1, 2021. We are demanding that the mass transfer of people does not happen in Hudson County. They should be released, not transferred. As of September 20th, there were 41 people in ICE detention at HCCC. Now is the crucial time to intervene to secure their release from the senselessness of ICE detention, and be released to their communities. This follows Essex County ending ICE detention at Essex County Correctional Facility (ECCF), and the passing of New Jersey bill S3361/A5207 barring new or renewed ICE contracts in the state in August. The ending of ICE detention in Essex unfortunately, and unconscionably led to many immigrants being transferred across the country. There is also the ever-present threat of ICE pushing to deport individuals, particularly those who resist the capricious cruelties of their captors.

Advocates are demanding urgent action by the administration and DHS as COVID-19 outbreaks in detention are ongoing and 2020 was the deadliest fiscal year for people in ICE custody since 2005. Despite President Biden’s campaign promises to roll back ICE’s immigration detention system, the number of people in detention has increased significantly since President Biden took office and community members continue to be arrested and detained by ICE for deportation. 

WHAT: Rally to demand the Biden administration shut down the Hudson County Correctional Center.

WHEN: 11am to 1pm EST

WHERE: Foley Square

WHO: Abolish ICE NY/NJ Coalition, Families for Freedom, Queer Detainee Empowerment Project, and Make the Road NY

VISUALS: Performance art, immigrants released from Hudson County Jail will be speaking in addition to people calling in from Hudson County Jail. 

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Families for Freedom (FFF) is an immigrant rights and human rights organization founded in 2002 by and for immigrants with criminal convictions facing detention and deportation and their loved ones. FFF seeks to repeal the laws that are tearing apart our homes and neighborhoods and to build the power of immigrant communities as communities of color to provide a guiding voice in the growing movement for immigrant rights as human rights. FFF has evolved into an organizing center against deportation. We are a source of support, education, and campaigns for directly affected families and communities -- locally and nationally. 

Visit familiesforfreedom.org.

The Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP) assists folks coming out of immigration detention in securing structural, health/wellness, educational, legal, and emotional support and services. We work to organize around the structural barriers and state violence that LGBTQIA TS & GNC detainee/undocumented folks face related to their immigration status, race, sexuality, and gender expression/identity.  QDEP is a proud member of the Detention Watch Network, Freedom For Immigrants, New York Immigration Coalition, AbolishICE NY/NJ Coalition, as well as the International Detention Coalition, QDEP is a fiscally sponsored project of the Center for Transformative Action (CTA). CTA, an educational 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is legally and financially responsible for all our project activities. 

Visit qdep.org

The Abolish ICE New York-New Jersey Coalition is open to all community members, grassroots collectives, non-profits, and service providers who support the vision of the Coalition. Our mission is to coordinate among organizations and activist networks who organize for the abolition of detention and incarceration in New York and New Jersey and broaden, strengthen and popularize the movement for abolition across the two states. 

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @abolishice_nynj 

Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition building power through collective advocacy, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications to abolish immigration detention in the United States. Founded in 1997 by immigrant rights groups, DWN brings together advocates to unify strategy and build partnerships on a local and national level. 

Visit detentionwatchnetwork.org. Follow on Twitter @DetentionWatch.