Re: [Marxism] FreshDirect

["Steffie Brooks" <steffie.brooks@xxxxxxxxx>]

I didn't hear about last night's vigil -- where FreshDirect workers
spoke -- in time to go.

But there is an active no-raids coalition and sanctuary movement in
NYC that is mobilizing against increasing ICE raids here. The local
police are functioning as a local enforcement arm for ICE.

I'll forward any information I learn about last night's vigil and
tonight's (Friday night's) organizing meeting.

Steffie



----------------

The vigil is ON - come rain or snow or ice!
Come out and bear witness to the ICE* storm!!!
(*ICE - Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
Update:  Recently fired immigrant workers from FreshDirect will give testimony.
------For Immediate Release: December 13, 2007 *UPDATED*-------
VIGIL FOR IMMIGRANT FAMILIES LIVING IN FEAR
Faith Leaders and Families Bear Witness to
The Destructive Immigration System in Our City
WHAT:   New York clergy and congregants of diverse faiths, will stand
with immigrant families at risk of deportation and recent fired
immigrant workers from FreshDirect, at an interfaith candlelight vigil
outside the Varick St. immigration processing center.
An entry point to the detention and deportation regime that breaks up
thousands of families, many New Yorkers are detained there for 12- 48
hours before being transferred or deported.  The faith leaders will
call for compassionate justice in the face of family separation and
worker exploitation during this holiday season, demanding an end to
the raids and deportations and questioning New York City's
collaboration with this process.
WHEN:   Thursday, December 13th, at 6pm
WHERE:  Outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Varick Street
Service                         Processing Center
               201 Varick St, Manhattan, NY 10455
               Trains: #1 train to Houston St, B/D/F/V to West 4th
WHO:    The New York City New Sanctuary Coalition, Families for Freedom,
               The New York Immigration Coalition, NY Jobs with Justice,
              and the Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition
               Religious Leaders of diverse faiths including:
               * Shaykh T.A. Bashir, House of Peace (Islam)
               * Rabbi Michael Feinberg, Greater NY Labor-Religion Coalition
               * Mary Naughton and Marie Viola, St. Ignatius Loyola
Catholic Church
               * Rev. David Rommereim, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
               * Juan Carlos Ruiz, Regional Coordinator for the New
Sanctuary Movement
               * Member of Families For Freedom defense network for
families facing
                       deportation
               * Jose Merced –UFCW local 348F organizer at FreshDirect
Long Island City
BACKGROUND:
The New York City New Sanctuary Coalition is an interfaith,
multi-ethnic coalition of religious communities from across New York
City committed to bearing witness to the injustice wreaked amongst
migrant communities by the broken immigration system.  The coalition
is part of the national New Sanctuary Movement.
Just this week, online grocery giant FreshDirect is firing scores of
workers after supervisors demanded they produce papers proving their
immigration status is legal, leaving New York families in crisis
during this holiday season. With a union vote set for next week, it
appears this upheaval is a tactic to intimidate the workforce.
In the last decade, 1.8 million people have been deported by federal
Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE").  In virtually every
instance, the interests of American-born children of immigrants are
not a factor that can even be taken into consideration by ICE, under
current immigration laws.
Most immigrants who are deported are separated from their families
without a real day in court.   ICE has raided New York City homes and
workplaces and infiltrated prisons, exiling long-term residents and
leaving children stranded.
Despite calling itself a city of immigrants, New York City
collaborates with ICE deportation efforts on a number of fronts. In
2006, the City's Department of Corrections received over $18 million
from the federal government exchange for targeting non-citizens, more
than any other city in the country. Without revealing their
identities, ICE officers routinely question suspected non-citizens
caught up in the criminal justice system who have yet to be convicted
or even charged with a crime.
The faith leaders and congregations at the December 13 vigil deplore
ICE's inhumane policies, and call for citizens to remember the
religious mandates in all faiths to be compassionate to the strangers
among us.

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