Redefining Cruel & Unusual
Indefinite Immigration Detention for-Profit Amid Toxic Waste in Essex County
Protest, Rally & March
Sunday, October 9, 2011
1:30 pm
Beginning at Peter Francisco Park
(on the east side of Newark Penn Station)
Newark, NJ
Marching to and from: Essex County Correctional Facility & Delaney Hall
356 Doremus Ave, Newark, NJ
Whether or not you can participate on October 9, events sponsors are asking people to sign a petition demanding that the Essex County Freeholders revoke the ICE contract http://www.change.org/petitions/oppose-expansion-of-immigration-detention-at-a-jail-accused-of-inhumane-conditions
After 14 years the IRATE & First Friends annual protest is moving to Newark along with many of the detainees from the Elizabeth Detention Center. ICE listened to us year after year complain about conditions at the converted warehouse with no outdoor recreation where people were kept, sometimes for years on end. They responded by working with Essex County and the private for-profit company Community Education Centers (CEC).
Up to 1250 detainees will now be held in either the Essex County Jail or in the neighboring privately run. Delaney Hall. These sites allow for outdoor recreation but are located in the middle of numerous TOXIC WASTE sites. The jail and Delaney Hall are both located on Doremus Avenue, a highly polluted area with active polluters where air quality is a constant issue.
Concerns also persist that the Essex County Jail is restricting visits from family, lawyers, and clergy in addition to concerns about adequate food, and general safety.
UULMNJ’s Immigration Reform Task Force is a co-sponsor of this event.