For Immediate Release
January 21, 2016
John Legend and Juanes Join Call to Overhaul Immigrant Detention as Part of Campaign to End Mass Incarceration
National #FREEAMERICA Tour Sees The Two Multiple Grammy Winning Artists
Spotlighting The Link Between Needed Immigration and Mass Incarceration Reforms
Juanes And John Legend Visit The Notorious Eloy Detention Center, Tent City, and Puente Arizona Community Center – With Pop-Up Performances For Both Detainees And Their Separated Families
Watch Video Of “REDEMPTION SONG” Performed Outside Eloy Detention Center
“John Legend, Juanes Perform Outside Of Immigration Detention Center In Arizona”
— Huff Post/AP
“Juanes and John Legend held a concert in the most unlikely of places today — deep in the Arizona desert, in front of the Eloy Immigration Detention Center, where an estimated 1,500 immigrants are currently being held… The goal of the concert: bring light to our country’s misguided immigration policies, and transform America’s criminal justice system”
— Fusion
Phoenix, AZ—As recent raids and a pending Supreme Court case push the issue of immigration into the national spotlight once again, Grammy Award winning artists John Legend and Juanes travelled to Arizona, in many ways the epicenter of the fight for migrant rights, to explore the issue. Yesterday, the two multiple-Grammy winning artists visited with people in detention and heard from local families impacted by immigration enforcement, to bring a cultural component to the campaigns to end detention, put a face to those caught in the system, and link it together with the efforts to end mass incarceration.
This marked the first stop on Legend’s listening tour to address immigration issues as part of the #FREEAMERICA campaign – in which the artist is visiting with people who are or have been incarcerated, law enforcement, legislators, prosecutors, union members, crime victims, and experts who’ve been thinking critically about America’s prison problem.
In Arizona, Legend and Juanes met with detainees inside the Eloy Detention Center, a privately-run facility similar to those that house approximately 34,000 immigrants each day, and one that most recently made news for the suspicious and still insufficiently investigated death of detainee Jose de Jesus Sahagun this past Spring. Inside, they got a glimpse of the conditions that thousands of immigrant families face every day in detention centers across America.
Having been denied permission to perform inside the facility for detainees, as has happened on previous #FREEAMERICA visits, the pair of artists then proceeded to a makeshift flatbed truck stage outside the facility, with a sound system directed back toward the detention center, to still bring a period of musical encouragement to the detainees within. This performance was inspired by previous similar editions of the “Chant Down The Walls” series created by another partner on the day – the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
From there the artists returned to Phoenix, where they next witnessed Tent City, the twenty plus year old outdoor jail run by Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio who himself is on trial for civil rights violations and abuses. To conclude the day’s activity, John Legend and Juanes then proceeded to the Puente Arizona, where they met with former detainees, and the families of current detainees (in both Eloy and ‘Tent City’), who are fighting for the release of their loved ones. Following the deeply emotional meeting, the pair of artists took to another stage erected at the community center, to also perform for the gathering – just as they had for their detained family members hours before.
Referring to the trip, John Legend explained, “These people are treated as criminals, but their crime is that of coming to America in pursuit of the American Dream. Many have fled desperate situations in their home countries where they fear for their lives. They long to be reunited with their families and given the opportunity to live and work without fear. Surely this country of immigrants can figure out a smarter, more humane way to accommodate those who want to come here.”
Echoing that same hope for reform, Juanes added: “I am very grateful to John for the invitation to join him on his Listen & Learn tour to visit the immigrant detention center, as well as meet with former detainees and the families of those inside. It helped me connect real faces to a topic that should be a concern to all of us in a nation of immigrants. We must create a greater awareness about the human beings affected and the need for a more just immigration process.”
Contacts:
For John Legend & #FREEAMERICA: Amanda.Silverman@42West.Net
For Juanes: JReilly@RogersandCowan.com
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