12 Days of Christmas

by | Dec 7, 2017 | Actions, Events, News

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12 Days of Christmas

                  ⭐ Donate here to give detainees money for bonds ⭐

Separated from family and working for only a dollar a day, it won’t be much of a Christmas for the more than 1,400 undocumented immigrants detained at Tacoma’s Northwest Detention Center. Despite its location in the Tacoma Tide Flats, most local residents are unaware of this private prison, not to mention the inhumane conditions, overcrowding, and lack of adequate care experienced by detainees there.

That’s why, this holiday season, Indivisible Tacoma is teaming up with the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) Resistance for “The 12 Days of Christmas,” providing some welcome holiday relief and letting detainees know they haven’t been forgotten. 

Every day December 13-24, 2017, members of Indivisible Tacoma, along with a variety of other local grassroots, community, and religious organizations, will reinforce the efforts of NWDC Resistance activists to support detainees and raise awareness of the human rights crisis in our backyard. 

Join us in one, more, or all of the events below!

Day 1. December 13th – NWDCR meeting & 12 Days kick off. 

Time: 6:30-8pm.

Address: 1115 S 56th St, Tacoma, WA 98408

Place: Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation

RSVP: Facebook

Featuring: the documentary short film Hunger Strikes: A Call to End Immigrant Detention and speakers:

  • Dr. Megan Ybarra, professor at the University of Washington and leader in the Northwest Detention Center Resistance

  • Wendy Pantoja Castillo, Tacoma migrant rights activist and leader in the Northwest Detention Center Resistance (NWDC-R)

Join us to learn from the NWDC-R leaders locked away in the Tacoma immigration prison via the video and in person from those struggling on their behalf outside about why we should join the struggle.

Come learn how you can join the fight for human dignity and fairness…here, there and everywhere.

This event is free and open to the public.

There is wheelchair ramp access through a side door at the southeast corner of the building. One gender-neutral, disabled-access restroom with grab bars is located on the same level as the meeting room. Service animals are welcome.

Day 2. December 14th. Make some noise! Music, drumming at the NWDC.

Please contact us for more details.

Day 3. December 15th. Fundraiser for detainees to buy toiletries.

Please contact us for more details.

Day 4. December 16th. Chalk art at the NWDC.

This is a big visitation day. Let’s let the families know they are supported and loved with welcoming messages and drawings as they enter. This is a family-friendly event, and some sidewalk chalk will be provided.

Time: 10am-12pm

Location: 1623 E J St, Tacoma, WA 98421

Place: NWDC

RSVP: Facebook

Day 5. December 17th. Giving gifts to children, partners, and families of detainees.

Please contact us for more details.

Day 6. December 18th. Pairing volunteers up with pen pals inside the prison. 

Please contact us for more details.

Day 7. December 19th. Writing letters to detainees.

Please contact us for more details.

Day 8. December 20th. Action meeting: transcribe poems, short stories, quotes in natively spoken languages to deliver to detainees.

It’s difficult to send detainees books, so we’re providing them with handwritten reading material.

Time: 6:30-8pm.

Address: 1115 S 56th St, Tacoma, WA 98408

Place: Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation

RSVP: Facebook

Day 9. December 21st. Online donation day.

Did you know detainees in Tacoma’s immigration prison work for $1 a day, while shampoo costs them $8 a bottle? Imagine working for 8 days just to be able to wash your hair. That’s the reality of everyday life for detainees living under the Geo Group and ICE detention regime.

And that’s why this Christmas, we’re raising money to give to detainees so they can buy toiletries and make phone calls. To donate, please go here:

https://www.youcaring.com/detaineesinthenorthwestdetentioncentertacomawa-1040410

Day 10. December 22nd. Raising community awareness.

Indivisible Tacoma members with fliers will educate the public about the NWDC in a high foot-traffic area.

If you’re interested in volunteering for this day, please contact Alexis.

Day 11. December 23rd. Music fundraiser.

Join us for a night of live music. This event is open to the public, and donations for detainees’ commissary accounts are appreciated.

Time: 6:30-8pm

Address: 1115 S 56th St, Tacoma, WA 98408

Place: Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation

RSVP: Facebook

Day 12. December 24th. Candlight vigil and singing. 

In the hush of night, as Christmas Eve draws to a close and Christmas Day arrives, join us for a candlelight vigil and carols. 1,400+ immigrants—our neighbors—are spending Christmas in Tacoma’s immigration prison. What will Christmas look like for them, separated from their families? 

We invite people all faiths, no faith, and agnostics to join us as we sing Feliz Navidad, Silent Night, Cielito Lindo, and other songs and carols.

Time: 11:30pm-12:15am

Location: 1623 E J St, Tacoma, WA 98421

Place: NWDC

RSVP: Facebook

Resist Those Who Profit from Human Misery!

by | Apr 28, 2017 | Actions, News

Today’s post comes from a freshman activist who attended the Tacoma City Council meeting regarding the Northwest Detention Center:

Those who profit and flourish, monetarily and/or ideologically, from the Trump agenda, are smart enough to distance themselves from his name and his rhetoric. But they still base their arguments on some well-dressed variation of, "Let’s agree, those bleeding-heart liberals simply don’t get how things really work."

This bleeding heart begs to differ.

Yesterday, countless brave members of the community shared testimonies about life-or-death health care crises, rape and sexual assault, malnutrition, extortion, exploitation of labor, lack of due process, willful separation of families, and near-complete lack of either operational accountability or transparency in the Northwest Detention Center. Representatives for this company, which profits from human misery, stood in their suit and ties, arguing essentially this:

Nevermind the snowflakes; there is no avalanche.

To which I say: no! Resist. Resist. Resist. Find solidarity through your Indivisible Tacoma community. By whatever legal means you’re comfortable with, and for whichever issues Trump stirs that strike most against your core values, speak up with your elected officials.

You don’t even have to be politically liberal or a so-called snowflake to take these urgent, important steps. You just have to resist some part the Trump agenda.

Don’t assume that Facebook activism actually accomplishes anything. March, boycott, and picket, but perhaps most potently, take the unglamorous, seemingly boring actions of engaging in everyday democracy, every day.

Your actions and your voice and most of all, your tenacity, are the undoing of those who, blatantly or tacitly, support a fascist president and take strength in a wink-nod approach that underestimates your power. Expose the cracks in that approach by making yourself heard.

Be indivisible, Tacoma.

Letter to Tacoma’s City Council

Letter to Tacoma’s City Council

by | Apr 27, 2017 | Actions, News

25 April 2017

Dear Mayor Strickland and Tacoma City Council Members:

Indivisible Tacoma is a nonpartisan group of over a thousand local citizens. We came together after the election out of concern that the Trump administration does not represent our welcoming, West Coast values. Although we are not experts on immigration, law enforcement, or the zoning of real estate, as neighbors and community members we reject the politics of fear.

Here are our thoughts on the zoning regulations before the Council today:

1. We are strongly opposed to the existence of any private prison anywhere, including here in Tacoma. No private corporation should be put in a position where profit steers them toward the incarceration and mistreatment of human beings.

2. We strongly support increased scrutiny of public correctional facilities, which should include a difficult permitting process that includes input from the community on whether this kind of facility is even addressing a genuine need, or whether we can find other solutions for public safety.

3. It is important to get this process right, and we do want the City Council to make sure that any regulatory framework the City imposes will be effective and will hold up in court. However, promptness is also important. Please update these zoning regulations and make them permanent as fast as possible.

4. We would like to request an additional hearing or other forum to discuss our concerns about human right violations at the Northwest Detention Center. We are very concerned with reports coming out of the NWDC about the conditions in which people are being held, the nutrition and hygiene situation, and the fact that detainees are being put to work for literal slave wages. We support the Northwest Detention Center Resistance and would like the City Council to listen to people with firsthand experiences and accept their guidance when directing the Health Department or other appropriate agencies to address these issues. An additional hearing would be very helpful.

Thank you for listening to our concerns. We look forward to speaking with you again at the next opportunity on conditions inside the Northwest Detention Center.

Sincerely,
Indivisible Tacoma