DC is Not Arizona: Protest Planned at ICE Roundtable

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Thursday, 26 April 2012 08:19

DC is Not Arizona: Protest Planned at ICE Roundtable

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Local Community Asserts: DC is not Arizona

Two Days After SB1070 SCOTUS Hearing, DC Community Denounces Immigration Customs Enforcement Roundtable

Washington, DC – Two days after the SB1070 SCOTUS hearing that mobilized nearly a thousand pro-civil rights protestors, DC community leaders will hold a press conference outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) roundtable on the controversial "Secure Communities" deportation program. Like Arizona's SB1070 law, the federal "Secure Communities" program turns local police officers into defacto immigration agents, funnels people into ICE’s deportation system, and undermines public safety and civil rights. The District of Columbia last year officially withdrew from the program but last August the federal government announced a sudden reversal in policy, making the program mandatory.

Said Sarahi Uribe, local resident and campaign coordinator for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, "As the first locality to reject this program nearly two years ago, we are very disappointed that ICE is holding a roundtable to promote this failed program. It shows a lack of respect for local decision-making. DC government and residents spoke very clearly, now the Feds need to listen: End the In-secure Communities program."

The federal government plans to activate the "Secure Communities" program in DC by 2013. Community leaders will demand that Feds respect local decision making and honor the original agreement allowing DC to withdraw.

WHAT: Press Conference

WHEN: FRIDAY April 27 at Noon

WHERE: Outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement Building

131 M Street N.E. Washington DC, 20002 (Near New York Ave. Metro)

WHO: Faith, Labor, Student, and community leaders including DC Jobs with Justice, LIUNA, AYUDA, the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence, South Asian Americans Leading Together, Rights Working Group.

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