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Justice for Mele
Activists Across Walls! Week of Hunger Strikes
Join us for a week of hunger strike solidarity by observing a one day hunger strike anytime today, Monday February 12 to Sunday February 18.
For one week we will do a rolling hunger strike in solidarity with the hunger strike and work stoppage currently happening in the Northwest Detention Center as well as the harsh retaliation they are receiving from Geo. We invite you, whether individually or with an organization, to join us by choosing one day of the week (or more) and going on hunger strike. We are doing this to honor the current hunger strikers’ demands inside, and to demand an end to detention and an end to deportation.
Activists who speak out against ICE and the deportation machine are targeted by the state, whether inside the detention center or outside. When people detained at NWDC go on hunger strike to demand better conditions inside and an end to deportations, GEO Group retaliates with isolation, threats of force feeding, physical and emotional abuse, and more. When people on the outside demand freedom of movement for all and take actions in line with those demands, the state spies on us, our families, deports us, arrests us, intimidates us. But we are not alone. Inside or out, we will continue to work towards a world with no detention and no deportations. We will continue to work towards a world where freedom of movement is granted for all people.
Join us and pick a day between February 12 and February 18 to strike in solidarity with the activists detained at NWDC.
1 – Email us at resistenciasolidarity (at) gmail.com and tell us what day.
2 – Take a picture of yourself, or your organization, with the signs attached (or make your own) and post them to your social media! Tag us!
3 – Write a message or letter of support to the strikers inside. We will send them the messages and photos.
4 – Download our most recent People’s Tribunal findings and use them as talking points to chat with people around why you’re on hunger strike.
Messaging for signs:
Activists Across Walls
Week of Hunger Strikes
#WeAreNotAlone
#TacomaStrike #YouCantDeportAMovement #HungerStrikersVsICE #MaruVsICE #DetentionStrike #EndDetentionEndDeportation
February 2018 Breaking Hunger Strike & Third Annual People’s Tribunal Report
#MaruVersusICE
Hunger Strikes: A Call to End Immigrant Detention
Watch our newest 11 minute documentary!
Hunger Strikes: A Call to End Immigrant Detention from Resistencia NW on Vimeo.
September 4th: A Dozen Continue on Hunger Strike in NWDC. Cuban Asylum Seekers Face Force Feeding and Solitary Confinement
Support Camp Zapata!
Farmworkers strike after the death of a fellow worker in Sumas, WA.
Fourth Hunger Strike of 2017 Happening Now!
Two Upcoming Events:
July 20 – Justice for Cynthia
July 23 – Hunger Striker Documentary Release
Support the Hunger Strikers! June 20 Call To Action!
Maru Joins the Tacoma 12 & Adelanto 9 in Calling for an End to Human Rights Abuses in Immigrant Detention
April 2017 Hunger Strike Call to Action!
2. Call ICE and demand that they meet the Hunger Strikers’ Demands (see below) and that GEO Group not retaliate against hunger strikers. We have reports that strikers have been threatened with transfer to facilities away from their loved ones as punishment.
Acting Field Director, Bryan S. Willcox
Assistance Field Director (Detention): William Penaloza
Facility Main Telephone: (253) 779.6000
Field Office Main Telephone Line: (206) 835.0650
Hunger Striker’s Demands
▪ Change the food menu
▪ Lower commissary prices.
▪ Improve hygiene, including the ability to wash clothes with soap and water.
▪ Increase recreation time.
▪ Have schoolwork and other programs available to keep detainees occupied.
▪ Improve medical attention.
▪ Increase wages for working detainees.
▪ Help speed up the legal process for detainees.
Other hunger strike updates 4/14/17: Seventy Detained Women Join Protest as Hunger Strike Enters Fifth Day. Download the press release on our press page here. Follow our social media for updates.
April 12th Update: 750+ Immigrants on Hunger Strike at the Northwest Detention Center
Prince and Jonathan, two of over 700 hunger strikers being held inside the Northwest Detention Center. Listen to Jonathan explain why he’s on hunger strike.
Visit our press page here. Follow our social media for updates.
Breaking News: 100+ Immigrants Start Hunger Strike at the Northwest Detention Center
Download the press release here. Follow our social media for updates.
Download the Hunger Strikers Handbook Now!
The Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, WA is one of the largest immigration prisons in the country, with the capacity to hold up to 1,575 people. On Friday, March 7, 2014, over one thousand people held in the NWDC fought back against an unjust system by putting their bodies on the line: a hunger strike. The strike continued for 56 days and spread to other detention centers across the USA. This year, on the third anniversary of their action, we reflect on their achievements and make an abolitionist call to stop locking people up and end all deportations. Learn more and download the Hunger Strikers Handbook.
Feb 26, 2017 Second People’s Tribunal against the Immigration System and the Northwest Detention Center
On February 26th, 2017 we gathered outside the Northwest Detention Center to hold a hearing pertaining to the detention and deportation process, conditions of the detention center, and treatment of detainees. Download the hearing findings here.
Time to Rise
Darker times are coming. As undocumented immigrants and co-conspirers we are committed to continue fighting for justice and ending detentions and deportations. And we will continue to offer our hands to all other communities that will be targeted.
This election was won by first attacking immigrants of color and giving permission to all the bigots to use us as a punching bag for their frustrations against the establishment. Then other communities were lined up for the punching.
But all those punches and promises from the now-winner of the presidential election have already been happening to most of us. The difference is that now it will happen to the rest of the country. This moment calls for a ramping up in organizing towards an end to all deportations and detention, and collective liberation for all of us. This moment, we must unite forces and work together.
We are the experts alongside many other communities of color in surviving. We are the experts in protecting each other. We are the experts and have organized for a long time. We are willing to share our knowledge of wining and resisting. We need each other. We need to fight together.
Will you join us?
Will you protect us as we will protect you?
Will you be there for us when they come to get us and try to deport us?
Will you organize with us?
Will you?
Support this work and pledge to fight alongside us and other folks targeted. Making a donation today. Become a sustaining supporter and donate $5-20 a month for the next four years.
Stay connected via Facebook.
See you in the streets.
Join Us Oct 29th: Dia de los Muertos @ NWDC
Dia de los muertos is a cultural and spiritual celebration that brings together souls of our departure ones and the importance of having a quality of life for those celebrating this important Mexican festivity.
NWDC Resistance and partners invite you to celebrate with us and to call for an end to detentions and deportations, without forgetting the thousands of people still detained and separated from their loved one in detention centers throughout the nation.
At NWDC Tacoma, we call for this place to shut down and be replaced with a community space that commemorates life not incarceration.
As DHS, under outside pressures, holds a small group of people to write a “review” of the private detention centers they use to incarcerate people awaiting for a result on their deportation process, we ask you to join us and listen to the voices of those detained, the voices that DHS refuses to listen to while making any decisions about their lives.
Join us for a weekend of learning, sharing and working towards liberation of our communities of color.
There will be different events and activities happening with the help of members of the Tacoma community and beyond.
We remind our allies that this event will create a space of respect and intentantionally stopping any cultural appropriation from happening.
We also ask that everyone that attends participate fully and engage with us respectfully.
People in detention are waiting for us to take action, not only to observe without taking their call seriously.
A detailed agenda will be shared later on, keep an eye on the event page.
Solidarity with Standing Rock #NoDAPL
Read our solidarity statement with the people of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others who oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline and work for the future of our land and people. Our liberation are connected.
ICE-Free Zone Flyers
Check out our ICE Free Zone Flyers, download them on our Press page.
Happy #MamasDay from the NWDC Resistance
As we celebrate Mother’s Day, we reflect on the US immigration policy that separates mothers from their families. We want to see an end to deportations and an end to detention. We want to see our families together and thriving. So NWDC Resistance teamed up with CultureStrike, Presente.org, Forward Together,and Strong Families to deliver Mamas Day Cards to Mamas inside the Northwest Detention Center.
The Mamas Day Project started in 2011 to create cards that reflect the various ways our mamas and families look, including a spectrum of gender, race, income, sexual orientation, immigration status, and more. This year NWDCR teamed up with the Mamas Day Project and took those cards in to the Northwest Detention Center and delivered to Mamas inside.
For more on Mamas Day, click here
DUMP TRUMP, Lynden Washington Style.
On Saturday May 7th, 2016 we participated in a blockade on a hot road in Lynden, Washington that lead to a Donald Trump rally. Over a dozen Latinx, Native American, and white Washington residents risked arrest blocking traffic to two main roads in Lynden, Washington during a Donald Trump Rally with “Make Lynden Coast Salish Again” banners.
“As someone who has grown up in Washington, today I am putting my body on the line to stop fascism from taking over our country. Today I am fighting for my mom, for my Native American neighbors and friends, and anyone who has been the target of hatred whether it comes from Trump or the local police. The residents of Lynden today have a chance to stand with us and reject hate,” said Josefina Mora, 18, one of the participant’s of today’s action..”
Call to Action: Justice for Angel Padilla!
Angel Padilla is being detained at the NWDC without access to the healthcare his life depends on. Desperately in need of a major surgery for a cancerous tumor in his left kidney, Padilla waits in an immigration detention center that does not and will not provide adequate health care. Take action now and demand that Angel Padilla is released immediately, that he be given full access to medical files, and that his deportation be stopped altogether.
Padilla is one of 1,500+ detainees in the Northwest Detention Center exposed to human rights violations on a daily basis. Many who are detained not only have health care needs that are not met, but are often put in solitary confinement instead of being provided with adequate health care. This needs to stop!
Learn more about his story here:
http://www.thestranger.com/news/feature/2016/02/24/23614331/fighting-cancer-and-deportation-at-the-same-time
Take Action Now!
1) Call the Seattle ICE Field Office Director Nathalie Asher: (206) 835-0058
Suggested script: “Hello, I’m calling about the detention of Mr. Padilla (A 092 721 003), a 39-year-old man currently detained at the Northwest Detention Center. In December 2015, a CAT scan detected a cancerous tumor in his left kidney. Mr. Padilla’s health is deteriorating in detention and on February 19 he was rushed to the hospital after collapsing in his cell. I’m aware Mr. Padilla has a conviction from 1996, but I also know he has taken the steps to atone for his actions. I urge you to use prosecutorial discretion and release Mr. Padilla from immigration detention, so he can receive the medical attention he needs to survive.”
2) Sign the petition and demand: Justice for Angel! Click here to sign the petition and join NWDC Resistance and the #Not1More Campaign in sending a message to ICE officials.
People’s Tribunal Against the Tacoma Immigration Prison aka Northwest Detention Center 2/6/2016 at the NWDC
for more information: www.facebook.com/events/453250351547234/
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#SHUTDOWNICE ACTION 9/21/2015 at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington
For press about this action visit our Press page.
Diverse coalition of activists risk arrest to stop immigrant deportations, call for immediate end to detentions. Community members lock down for what has become a global human rights issue
September 21, 2015, at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, more than 20 community members locked down to prevent the morning’s deportation buses from leaving the privately run facilities.
The goal was not only to prevent the day’s immigrant deportations, but also to protest the criminalization and scapegoating of immigrants, highlight the moral injustice of privately-run for-profit detention centers and their collaboration with the local police departments creating a road to detention, and call for an end to all immigrant deportations and detentions.
Banners spread next to protesters read “Climate Justice means Ending Deportations” “Queers Demand and End to Detention” and “Not1More”, speaking to how immigration is an environmental issue and issue of gender justice.
“Climate change is resulting in worsening drought and super-storm conditions which displace millions across the globe. These climate refugees will number 200 million by 2050. World leaders and communities across the U.S. need to end these unjust deportations and commit to policies that stop climate change.” said Jill Mangaliman, one of the protesters locked down today and executive director of Got Green.
Members of TWAC (Trans and/or Women Action Camp) carried signs protesting ICE’s controversial practice of placing transgender detainees in solitary confinement. While transgender women only make up 1 out of 500 detained immigrants in this country, they make up an alarming 1 out of every 5 confirmed sexual assaults in immigration detention.
Participants of the day’s blockade, which included Rising Tide Seattle, the Raging Grannies, and other groups fighting for climate justice, economic justice, reproductive justice, worker rights, and more, vow to keep returning to the detention center for future actions as long as unjust detentions and deportations continue.
Watch clips here! http://notonemoredeportation.com/2015/09/21/Tacoma
Spread the word & share!
Meet Some of the Folks Who Locked Down & Why
Donate to the Northwest Detention Center Resistance by clicking here!
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