OC Immigrant Leaders Call for the Abolishment of ICE with March to Theo Lacy Detention Center
ORANGE, CA - On June 14th, over 200 immigrant rights leaders and allies gathered at Morrison Park in Santa Ana to rally and march to the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange to demand that the Orange County Board of Supervisors keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) out of Orange County and end immigrant detention at Theo Lacy. These leaders came from a diverse coalition of immigrant rights organizations in Orange County, including the Korean Resource Center, ACLU of Southern California, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Resilience OC, Chispa, VietRISE, Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development, and OUR Revolution Santa Ana.
For the last 17 years, ICE has terrorized immigrant communities in the name of "promoting security and public safety," by tearing families apart and physically and mentally abusing those they detain. Every day, children and their loved ones live in fear of being separated as a consequence of seeking a better life. The action comes in light of an uptick in state perpetrated violence by immigration enforcement authorities. These include the murder of Claudia Patricia Gómez González by a Border Patrol Officer, death of asylum seeker Roxana Hernández from the lack of medical attention needed, death of Marco Antonio Muñoz who was robbed of his wife and his son, and the use of family separation as a deterrent against migration.
At the rally, Korean Resource Center Immigrant Rights Youth Organizer, Alice Lee, said "No law is above justice and humanity. Human rights are a universal standard. The incessant infringements of human rights and abuses will not stop until ICE is abolished because it is an institution established to penalize human beings for fleeing danger and seeking for a better life. To end the injustice against our immigrant communities we must abolish ICE and hold them accountable for all the inhumane actions they have committed."
The Korean Resource Center's next step will be to take part in the Defend CA Values action in Sacramento on June 20th with the California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance. The fight for sanctuary in California continues as court proceedings begin for Attorney General Jeff Sessions lawsuit against California’s protections for immigrants. Now more than ever, our organizations will fight to advocate for the rights of undocumented immigrants who have become the main target of an unhinged Trump administration.
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