CONTACT DEPT. OF HOMELAND
SECURITY TO END
THE INHUMANE TREATMENT OF
IMMIGRANTS
We at 8th
Day Center
publicly declare ourselves a New Sanctuary Organization.[1]
From the
historical understanding of sanctuary as a sacred place for
protection from
injustice and persecution, the 1980s sanctuary
movement to today -- a call has been
made for a New Sanctuary
Movement in urgent response to the current failures of the
immigration system in the United States. On January 30th, Janet
Napolitano, the new
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS), called for an agency
assessment of current immigration
enforcement practices, particularly immigration detention.
In the
last month, two
immigrants have died in detention centers used by the Immigration
and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency. Immigrant detainees are regularly
denied
emergency medical care and are allowed to be publicly
humiliated under the ICE
jurisdiction. In one extreme case, a
mentally-ill LEGAL resident was deported and is now missing.
Partnering
with the Rights
Working Group's "Hold DHS Accountable! Campaign", [2]
we
urge you to contact Secretary Napolitano by February 20th and make
your voice heard.
ACTIONS
1. Contact
DHS by February
20th and tell them to roll back failed Bush Administration
policies
and stop these blatant violations of human rights and civil
liberties.
You may do
so by visiting
the following link for the Rights Working Group's automated letter :
http://www.capwiz.com/rightsworkinggroup/issues/alert/?alertid=12653086
2. Distribute this bulletin to your networks and encourage them to write Secretary Napolitano as well!
FOR MORE INFORMATION
* Press
release from DHS:
http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1233353528835.shtm
* Rights Working Group
homepage: http://www.capwiz.com/rightsworkinggroup/home/
* 8th Day Center for
Justice homepage: http://www.8thdaycenter.org/
NOTES