Protesters are occupying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities across the country, inspired by a Portland protest that resulted in the indefinite shutdown of an ICE detention center on Wednesday.
“Occupy ICE” protesters are blocking the loading dock of ICE headquarters in New York, have set up tents in front of an ICE facility in Los Angeles and are gathered outside of a detention center in Washington state.
Though the protests are not led by any one group, the Democratic Socialists of America are involved in most states, alongside groups associated with prison abolition, immigration rights and anarchist collectives. The protests are calling for an abolition of ICE and an end to what they call human rights abuses by the criminal justice system, alongside other reforms.
MACC is calling for an emergency occupation (bring yourself – no need for tents) starting today at 5 pm at the ICE processing center (201 Varick Street) in Manhattan. Join us as we mobilize to #OccupyICE and sound the call that “No one is illegal!”
#OccupyICENYC pic.twitter.com/qr9UooycUH— MACC NYC (@macc_nyc) June 22, 2018
The Portland protest began in response to the Trump administration’s policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the border, a result of the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy toward illegal border crossings.
ICE spokeswoman Carissa Cutrell told The Hill on Wednesday that the agency “fully respects the rights of all people to voice their opinion without interference” and “ICE remains committed to immigration enforcement consistent with federal law and agency policy.”- READ MORE
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