Kathy O’Leary of Catholic organization Pax Christi, New Jersey said, “Ellis Island is a tremendous symbol of this myth that our country is a country that welcomes immigrants and that we celebrate our immigrant heritage. And yet within a five minute drive we have over a thousand immigrants in detention.”
Ash Wednesday is a Christian feast day that marks the beginning of the season of Lent.
As they receive the blessed ashes on their foreheads as a sign of penance and repentance, they are protesting the reported inhumane treatment and deaths of undocumented immigrants inside detention facilities.
They are also praying for release of these detained immigrants.
“An immigrant who got caught living here without proper documentation — we’re filling up our jails with people who really should not be punished. People we don’t need to lock up, they’re not a threat to society,” said O’leary.
Immigrant rights advocate Bea Sabino said privately-owned detention facilities are benefiting from the arrest of undocumented immigrants.
“The federal government has contracts with the private prison corporations and how they make money of it is the way they have to fill a certain number of beds and they get reimbursed by the federal government,” said Sabino.
Meantime, immigrant rights advocates are also protesting against the Texas ruling to defer President Obama’s expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that officially starts receiving applications today.
"We’re here to stand in solidarity with prisoners, the inmates, especially the immigrants. We’re also thinking about our political prisoners in the Philippines, making sure that their rights remain intact," Sabino said.
Read more from Balitang America.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
