Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Another Protest?

FYI. Came across this one the other day.....

HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS PLAN OCTOBER 12 HUMANITARIAN VISIT TO STEWART DETENTION CENTER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Anton Flores, Alterna, 706-302-9661 , anton@alternacommunity.com Adellina Nicholls, GLAHR, 770-289-4833 , anicholls@glahr.org Azadeh Shahshahani, ACLU of Georgia, 404-523-5398 , 919-389-5329 (cell), ashahshahani@acluga.org

HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS PLAN OCTOBER 12 HUMANITARIAN VISIT TO STEWART DETENTION CENTER Put out call to all Georgians of conscience to join in coordinated visitation of immigrant detainees The ACLU of Georgia, Alterna, and the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) are organizing coordinated visitations of detainees at the Stewart Detention Center, located in rural southwest Georgia. The Lumpkin-based Stewart is a private, for-profit facility operated by the Correction Corporation of America (CCA), holding approximately 1,700 immigrants for an average of 40 days each. The visitations will take place Sunday, October 12th, in conjunction with events around the country demanding an end to raids and deportations. "The fact that this event is being held on a Sunday is important," stated Anton Flores, co-founder of LaGrange-based Alterna. "Georgians are people of deep faith and we hope to humanize the immigrants who are being held at Stewart. Jewish Scripture calls us to 'do justice and love mercy' and Jesus says that visiting a prisoner is a holy act. That is what we are going to do." "CCA is a private corporation that pulled in $34 million in profits just last quarter," decried Adelina Nicholls, Executive Director of GLAHR. "Within the past year, Cobb County has done all it can to help CCA put profits before people by detaining nearly 5,000 immigrants and sending over 2,200 to Stewart." The October 12th visitations come as a group of concerned Georgians announce their plans to form an Immigration Detention Watch Taskforce. "The goals of the taskforce are to bring conditions at immigration detention facilities in Georgia into compliance with international human rights standards and to halt the rapid expansion of the immigration detention industrial complex in our state," said Azadeh Shahshahani, the ACLU of Georgia National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project Director. "Our government has tried to hide the dark consequences of its failed immigration policies in a remote section of Georgia; but by inviting Georgians to visit men who simply dared to believe in the American Dream, we hope to illuminate everyone's hearts and minds to this injustice," Flores summarized.