BACKGROUND
ICE has detained immigrant families in Pennsylvania at the Berks County immigrant prison since 2001. In recent years, immigrant women at Berks have faced abuse, including rape and medical neglect. Under community pressure, ICE released all families from Berks in February of this year. But now ICE is working with Berks County to fill the prison again, but with immigrant women instead of families. The Berks County Commissioners voted 'yes' on the conversion plan on Thursday, August 19. This is not the immigration policy Joe Biden and Kamala Harris promised the American people. Please join the Shut Down Berks Coalition to demand that the administration cancel the contract and permanently shut down the Berks immigrant prison.
We know that in other detention centers for women, such as the T. Don Hutto Detention Center (Hutto) -which was once a family detention center- there has been pervasive sexual abuse, retaliation, medical neglect, and nutritional deprivation. Following the exposure of the atrocious abuses that happened against families there, it was transitioned into a detention center for immigrant women. This did not stop abuse. Women in Hutto have been subjected to further inhumane treatment, isolation and separation from family and community.
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/ice-victim-blames-immigrants-sexual-assault-policies/2023706/
https://www.phillyvoice.com/berks-county-ice-immigrant-detention-sexual-assault-settlement-woman/
You can read more about the #shutdownberks campaign here.
Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition
ACTIONS
So your easy and quick actions are:
🔥 Call
Rep. Nadler (chair of the House Judiciary Committee) (202) 225-5635 and
Rep. Lofgren (chair of the Immigration subcommittee) (202) 225-3072
Angela Kelley (Senior Immigration Counselor) (202) 941-1232 (this is a cell phone! Feel free to text!)
and say:
"I'm calling to urge the Biden administration to close the Berks immigrant prison in Pennsylvania for good. ICE is pushing to detain immigrant women at Berks despite the prison’s documented history of abuses against women. This is not the immigration policy Joe Biden promised the American people. I am strongly urging the administration to cancel the contract and permanently shut down the Berks immigrant prison. Thanks."
🔥 You can also personalize and send a pre-written email to Angela Kelly by simply clicking here
🚨(you'll have to finish the sentence ["I support aspiring Americans because...] and get rid of line breaks that look like this 👇🏼 if you do this on your phone. Just erase them & hit return twice.) 🚨