Greg Sullivan of IRATE/First Friends: "We have a little walk to the paradise that is called Doremus Ave.
Just overlook the fact that it's a toxic dump!
This is the 13th year that IRATE has held vigils & protests at ICE facilities - this started back in 1998 when we [began] protesting at the Elizabeth Detention Center....
As you know, the [EDC detainees] have been transferred within the last week to Delaney Hall - this is where we will end up today..."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 9th 1:30 pm
Beginning at Peter Francisco ParkNewark, NJ
RIGHT NEXT TO NEWARK PENN STATION
Marching to and from:
Essex County Correctional Facility & Delaney Hall
356 Doremus Ave, Newark, NJ
Can't join us in Newark on Oct 9th? Sign the Petition http://www.change.org/peti
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7 October 2011
CONTACTS:
Kathy O’Leary, Pax Christi NJ, 973-610-1684, kolearypcnj@gmail.com
Jackie Mahendra, Director of Organizing, Immigrant Rights, Change.org, 202-222-8699, jackie@change.org
Cynthia Mellon, (Spanish & Portugese) Community & Environmental Justice Organizer, Ironbound Community Corp., 862-755-9577 cmellon@ironboundcc.org
***PRESS RELEASE***
NEW JERSEY RESIDENTS AND FAITH LEADERS HOLDING EVENT TO OPPOSE EXPANSION OF IMMIGRANT DETENTION AT JAIL ACCUSED OF INHUMANE CONDITIONS
Residents of New Jersey To March to the Essex County Jail to protest freeholders decision to Put Revenue Before Human Rights in approving a contract to house immigrant detainees at controversial Essex County Correctional Facility and Neighboring Delaney Hall .
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ – Concerned New Jersey residents including members of Pax Christi NJ and more than 20 immigrant rights and religious organizations from New York and New Jersey will march from Peter Francisco Park in Newark, NJ, to the Essex County Correctional Facility on Sunday in opposition to a new contract with Essex County that would expand immigration detention at the jail and the neighboring privately run Delaney Hall to house up to 1,250 immigrant detainees. The jail has been accused of inhumane conditions including proximity to active polluters and toxic waste sites; restrictions on visits from family, lawyers, and clergy; concerns about adequate food and general safety; and a denial to access of medical services.
WHAT: March and Rally in Opposition to Inhumane Conditions at For-Profit Detention Center in Toxic Waste Corridor
WHERE: Beginning at Peter Francisco Park (Adjacent to Newark Penn Station) in Newark, NJ, and marching to Essex County Correctional Facility & Delaney Hall, 356 Doremus Ave., Newark, NJ
WHEN: 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM, Sunday, October 9, 2011
“The Essex County Executive and the Freeholders want us to believe that they can spin the misery of the immigrants in their custody into gold for the rest of the residents of Essex County, but they are perpetuating an environment in which profit is the primary motivator while shirking their responsibility for oversight,” said faith leader Kathy O’Leary, who launched an online campaign on Change.org. She and Pax Christi NJ, the organization she represents, are a part of a statewide coalition of organizations which has been engaging the chosen freeholders in private and public meetings since January, consistently asking that the no new contract with ICE be approved prior to completing a thorough investigation of allegations of human rights abuses and violations of NJ law at the jail and instituting a community review board to ensure facilities comply with all applicable standards.
Participants and the coalition members are hoping to send the message that New Jersey residents are upset with the Freeholders’ decision. A large coalition of faith groups is asking that the Freeholders ensure visiting hours that include evenings and weekends; contact visits for family members; no restrictions on visits, phone calls, and other contact with lawyers and clergy; adequate mental and physical health care; healthy food that complies with dietary restrictions and religious observances; unrestricted access to communal religious services; and regular outdoor recreation free from exposure to hazardous environmental conditions. The online petition on Change.org has already garnered more than 2,000 signatures.
Sunday’s event is the third major protest outside the Essex County Correctional Facility and Delaney Hall since Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced its intention to partner with Essex County. The event is also the 13th annual protest against immigration detention by the immigrant rights group IRATE & First Friends, traditionally held outside the Elizabeth Detention Center. However, the protest is moving to Newark this year along with the detainees. The event is to take place just days after ICE completes transferring hundreds of immigrant detainees from the Elizabeth Detention Center to Delaney Hall and two years since ICE issued a report that was supposed to transform immigration detention from an unfairly penal system to one of humane civil detention.
ICE is saying the move to Essex is an attempt to improve conditions, but advocates disagree. “The policy of mandatory immigration detention is bad enough, but what ICE is holding up as the model of immigration detention for the entire country is a jail and a hastily partitioned penal facility next to active polluters and toxic waste in the middle of what is known as ‘chemical corridor.’ How is that an improvement? How can anyone call that more humane?” said Cynthia Mellon Environmental Justice & Community Organizer for the Ironbound Community Corporation.
The campaign is catching on and it is attracting the attention of national groups. “Kathy O’Leary and Pax Christi NJ’s campaign to demand more humane conditions for immigrant detainees is impressive,” said Jackie Mahendra, Change.org’s Director of Organizing for Immigrant Rights. “Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on the issues that matter to them, and it’s been really incredible to see this campaign take off.”
Live signature totals from the Kathy O’Leary and Pax Christi NJ’s campaign:
http://www.change.org/peti
Featured Speakers:
· Carol Fouke-Mpoyo –Chairperson, Sojourners Immigration Detention Center Visitors Program
· Cynthia Mellon –Environmental Justice & Community Organizer, Ironbound Community Corp.
· Daniel Cummings – Monmouth County Coalition for Immigrant Rights
· Ed Martone –Executive Director NJ Association on Correction
· Maristela Freiberg & Moacir Weirich – St. Stephan's Grace Lutheran Community Church
· Anabela Moura Silva – Wilson Avenue School parents group
· Sally Pillay – Coordinator Intern Program, IRATE & First Friends
Live music performed by the Catholic Worker Band and spoken word/hip-hop ballads performed by The Peace Poets
The event is co-sponsored by: Action 21; Action for Justice Community Church of NY Unitarian Universalist; American Friends Service Committee, Immigrant Rights Program-Newark; Bergen County Branch/People's Organization for Progress; Casa Esperanza; Casa Freehold; CEUS; Community of Friends in Action, Inc.; Immigration Task Force, Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey; Felician Sisters of Lodi; Ironbound Community Corporation; Middlesex County Coalition for Immigrant Rights; Monmouth County Coalition for Immigrant Rights; NJ DREAM Act Coalition; Pax Christi NJ; Riverside Sojourners Immigration Detention Visitor Project; St. Stephan's Grace Community – ELCA; Sisters of Mercy, Mid-Atlantic Justice Office; Social Responsibility Council of the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood; Unidad Latina en Accion- NJ; Wind of the Spirit
Whether or not you can join us, please sign the petition demanding that the Essex County Freeholders revoke the ICE contract http://www.change.org/peti
About Peter Francisco Park – It is a pocket park on the east side of Newark Penn Station. It is a triangular shaped piece of land that is bounded by Edison Place, Ferry St. and Raymond Plaza East.
Directions using Mass Transit From NJ and NY – take Amtrak, NJ Transit, PATH or Hudson/Bergen Light Rail to Newark Penn Station.
Parking for the Rally & Walking to Peter Francisco Park – There is paid parking at the Edison Park Fast at 986 Raymond Blvd. The lot is about 2 blocks north east of Peter Francisco Park. Exit the parking lot and walk along Raymond Plaza East in the direction of Market St. Pass Mother Cabrini Park and the Ironbound Station Plaza, cross Market Street and you will be right next to Peter Francisco Park.
The March is 2.4 miles each way. We will head south east on Ferry St. We will walk about a ½ mile until we reach what is called “5 points” where Ferry St. Merchant & Wilson Ave all intersect. We will bear right onto Wilson Ave. Before the next intersection, we will stop in front of Wilson Ave. school (19 Wilson Ave.) to hear from member(s) of the parents group at Wilson School. We will then continue to walk south east on Wilson Ave. We will stay on Wilson until it ends at Doremus Ave. We will turn left on Doremus and end in front of the Essex County Correctional Facility at 365 Doremus Ave.
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