19 California Organizations Launch First Statewide Days of Visitation and Action, January 17-20
Los Angeles, CA - Today, Freedom for Immigrants in collaboration with 18 other leading grassroots organizations throughout California is launching the Statewide Days of Visitation and Action.
Between January 17th and 20th, we will be coordinating visits to the Adelanto Detention Facility and the Otay Detention Facility, two privately-run immigrant prisons in California. We also will be holding community screenings of the recently-released film, Just Mercy, and panel discussions to raise awareness of the impact of mass incarceration and deportation on our communities.
“Immigration detention is just one part of the mass incarceration system,” said Christina Fialho, the co-founder/executive director of Freedom for Immigrants. “It is a system that thrives on secrecy. It is time that all Californians see how their tax dollars are being used to perpetrate abuse, while lining the pockets of private prison company shareholders.”
In 2010, Freedom for Immigrants co-founders Christina Mansfield and Christina Fialho started the first immigration detention visitation program in California to connect people isolated in immigration detention to a community of support on the outside. Since then, Freedom for Immigrants has convened a network of visitation programs now operating in 69 immigrant prisons across the country. Over 4,500 community members visit people in immigration detention on a weekly basis to offer a connection to the outside world, but also to be the eyes and ears of the immigration detention system.
The purpose of the Statewide Days of Visitation and Action is to engage new volunteers in this movement, while educating the public about the historical context and intersection of mass incarceration and immigration.
California has been leading the way to curb the expansion of immigration detention, but there is more work to do. In 2017, Freedom for Immigrants along with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center co-sponsored the first statewide bill in the country to put a moratorium on immigration detention expansion. This bill, the Dignity Not Detention Act, in conjunction with a state budget amendment signed into law by Governor Brown prevents California municipalities from engaging in new contracts or expanding their current contracts with ICE. Since this law went into effect, four immigration detention facility contracts have been terminated, significantly reducing the number of people in immigration detention in California.
And just this year, California passed AB 32 to begin the process to phase out private prisons in both the immigration and criminal context. However, the private prison industry is trying to undermine this law with shady contracting schemes.
And come join us for these Days of Visitation & Action to learn about how you can be part of creating a more just and merciful country. Or sign up now to become a visitor volunteer!
Our partners include: Trans Latina Coalition, Schools Not Prisons, Asian and Pacific Islander Women Lead, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Al Otro Lado, Fathers & Families Stockton, By Design, Haitian Bridge Alliance, Pillars of the Community, Build Power, New Breath Foundation, Somos Familia Valle, Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement, and Motivating Individual Leadership for Public Advancement.
