For immediate release // Excuse Cross Posting // Available Online Here
August 29, 2016
Contact: Armando Carmona, armando@ndlon.org, (323) 250-3018
NDLON Reaction to DHS announcement: Practice of Incarcerating Immigrants by For-Frofit Contractors Should End, Not Be Reviewed
Concert Announced in California to Serenade Jailed Migrants
(Los Angeles) In reaction to the announcement from Secretary Johnson that he will enlist the Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC) to review the use of for-profit companies to jail immigrants, NDLON issued a series of statements and announced a concert in California this Wednesday outside of a notorious immigrant detention center.
Pablo Alvarado, director of NDLON, said:
“There is nothing to review. No one should ever profit from other people’s pain, and the use of private contractors is a practice that frankly should have been ended by the Obama Administration 7 years ago. What some people call ‘private detention centers’ are in fact public jails for immigrants that are operated by for-profit corporations. They should be shut down without delay, and the Obama administration should immediately cease its repugnant policy of jailing asylum-seekers, its overall policy of deterrence toward Central American refugees, and its utterly indefensible reliance on deportation quotas.
Chris Newman, Legal Director for NDLON, added:
“In the past, DHS has used the HSAC as a shield to deflect political liability that resulted from its controversial deportation practices. For example, the HSAC Se Communities review was not an earnest attempt to explore policy reforms. To the contrary, many believed at the time it was a white-washing effort meant to tamp down the sanctuary cities that were embarrassing the Obama Administration. When it comes to its jailing policy, if DHS is interested in a serious review, we would hope they would form a committee of experts that include immigrants who were formerly incarcerated.”
Additionally, NDLON has announced the convening of a Chant Down the Walls public concert and demonstration outside of Adelanto Detention Center to be convened on Wednesday August 31st at 6:00pm calling for the end of immigrant detention. During the event, incarcerated migrants will be serenaded; demonstrators will call upon Governor Jerry Brown to sign a bill that would close for-profit jails.
Who: Musicians TBA, Supporters of Xochitl Hernandez, NDLON
What: Chant Down the Walls Public Concert & Demonstration
Where: Adelanto Detention Facility 10250 Rancho Rd, Adelanto, CA 92301
When: Wednesday August 31st 6:00pm
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