On Sunday SURJ NYC rallied with nearly 150 New Yorkers from across the state in Goshen, NY, as part of the Dignity Not Detention coalition’s organizing to end the ICE detention contract at Orange County Jail (OCJ). For years, the county has contracted with ICE to detain New Yorkers in inhumane conditions. Currently, OCJ incarcerates more people for ICE than any other site in the state, except sites operated by the federal government, and is increasingly used as an interim site to transfer our neighbors even farther away from their communities. We demand that County Executive Steve Neuhaus end the ICE detention contract with Orange County Jail now!
April 12 rally in Goshen, NY, with SURJ NYC members, demanding that Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus end the county jail’s contract with ICE.
In addition to organizing to end the OCJ ICE contract, we are also continuing to push for a complete statewide ban on state and local complicity in ICE detention through the Dignity Not Detention Act. DND and New York For All both have broad support in the New York state legislature and in communities across the state. We are joining campaign leaders in calling for the New York state legislature to pass both bills in their entirety immediately. Enough is enough!
Whether you’re a SURJ NYC member who has been in the movement for a while or you’ve never taken action with Dignity Not Detention, now is the time to get involved in the fight for immigration justice in New York State:
Join the DND and NY for All mobilization to Albany on April 21 and invite friends to join you — a big turnout is crucial for showing our lawmakers that the time is up for them to pass these crucial bills and protect all New Yorkers.
Help ensure we have broad turnout by contributing to make funds available for DND members who otherwise couldn’t afford to make the trip.
Participate in DND’s weekly phone zaps, on Tuesdays from 1:00pm-2:00pm, or make calls on your own time.
Attend the weekly vigil at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal jail where ICE is detaining our neighbors.
Join the next meeting of the SURJ NYC Immigration Justice Working Group on April 28.
Onward,
SURJ NYC