This past week, we’ve seen thousands of New Yorkers (including many of us here in SURJ NYC) mobilize to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian rights activist and legal permanent resident who was taken from his home by ICE just last week. His abduction has been felt deeply across the country, from those fighting for the liberation of Palestine to all who care about protecting their right to free speech and protest. We cannot allow this blatant act of state repression to have the chilling effect it hopes to. Now, more than ever, is the time to be focused and consistent in our advocacy, and unwavering in our commitment to free speech, racial justice, immigration justice, and a free Palestine.
Our struggles for justice are connected. Mahmoud’s continued detention in an ICE detention center in Louisiana– far away from his lawyer and pregnant wife– is just one example of how the immigration system rips families apart and denies people access to their basic rights. Showing up for Racial Justice NYC’s Immigration Justice Working Group has long been fighting to throw a wrench in ICE’s detention and deportation systems, and we call on you to join us in this fight.
One focus of our working group’s efforts is ending New York’s complicity in ICE detention through advocating for the Dignity Not Detention Act, which would get New York out of the business of immigration detention and family separation. Detention is a critical component of the deportation pipeline; and hindering ICE’s ability to detain folks reduces how many people can be deported. From weekly phone zaps to lobby days in Albany (the next one is in April, see our Calls To Action page for more info), we have a multitude of ways for you to plug into this work. To learn more, you can also attend the Dignity Not Detention (DND) campaign’s in-person orientation on Friday, March 28th!
We know our strategies work and momentum around DND is building. Since this legislative session began in January, fourteen additional lawmakers have signed onto the Act. Now is not the time to slow down or wallow in despair. It is critical that we continue to channel our outrage into action; that we continue to show up for Mahmoud; and that we continue to speak out against the systems of oppression that harm our neighbors and rip our communities apart.
In solidarity,
SURJ NYC Immigration Justice Working Group