• April 25th, 2024
  • Thursday, 02:51:30 PM

Community Leaders Rally to Close Homestead Detention Center 


Photo: CIP Americas September 26th marked three years since the search began for the 43 students disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero.

On Tuesday, immigrant and community leaders rallied outside the Homestead detention center, which houses more than 1,000 children who either came to the U.S. as unaccompanied minors or were separated from their parents by U.S. officials.

The detention center was re-opened in June 2018 in response to the Trump administration’s severe crackdown on migrants, including the forced separation of thousands of children from their parents. The total number of children taken from their parents is unknown due to lack of a coordinated tracking system, though it’s suspected to be upwards of 3,000.
Organizers are calling for the Homestead detention center to be shut down, for children to be reunited with their families, and for the Office of Refugee Resettlement to commit to not using these harmful emergency influx shelters.
Speakers included Mariana Martinez, American Friends Service Committee; Thomas Kennedy, Florida Immigration Coalition; Guadalupe De La Cruz, WeCount; Elvira Carvajal, Farmworkers Association of Florida; Maria Bilbao, United We Dream; Dian Alarcon, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health; Dr. Ashmeet Oberoi and Dr. Dorita Marina, University of Miami, and community leaders, immigrant activists, elected officials, concerned community members and others
The event was organized by the Florida Immigration Coalition, the American Friends Service Committee, United We Dream, WeCount, Farmworkers Association of Florida, and others.

 

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