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This morning, 12 immigrant rights activists locked themselves to the wheels of two deportation buses headed to Operation Streamline at a federal court where 6 additional people had chained themselves to the entrance to protest the proceeding they say is criminalizing immigrants and destroying core principles of the justice system.
According to multiple sources, as a result of the three and a half hour long and continuing peaceful blockade, the court, for one of the only times in it’s history, cancelled the proceedings where detainees are presented in shackles in front of a judge and sentenced as a group.
The protest is part of the #Not1More Deportation campaign calling on the President to use his authority to keep families together and provide immediate relief from deportations for those who could benefit from a permanent solution.
Hundreds will be gathering in Phoenix this weekend for a conference culminating in a rally and march on Monday October 14th beginning at noon from Margaret T Hance park (Moreland and 3rd St) that will conclude at ICE Headquarters at 2035 N Central Ave, Phoenix.
“Under the President’s administration, nearly two million families have been torn apart through detention and deportation,” explains Marisa Franco of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. “Our communities can no longer wait for the President to rediscover his moral compass or for Congress to actually do its job. We will do what any mother or father would do and keep our families together by preventing ICE from being able to tear them apart.”
“Anyone who witnesses Operation Streamline will come away convinced that it is both unconstitutional and immoral,” explains writer and author, Roberto Cintli Rodriguez. “There is no justice in that courtroom. It violates every principle the US claims to ascribe to. When humanity is confronted with unjust laws, it is our responsibility to challenge them.”
Photos are available: http://flickr.com/ndlon and facebook.com/ndlon
Livestream available at: www.notonemoredeportation.com/
Twitter: Follow @ndlon and #not1more for updates
For background on Operation Streamline:
Operation Streamline’s Hard Line
Grassroots Leadership Report: Costs and Consequences
NPR: Is Operation Streamline Worth Tripling Its Budget?
Kung Li: Understanding Operation Streamline
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