Four Reasons to #CloseTheCamps and #ICEoutHoCo
Dispelling 4 Myths Defenders of the Status Quo Use to Maintain ICE’s Contracts with Local Governments
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has for years maintained contracts known as Intergovernmental Service Agreements (IGSAs) with local governments to expand its capacity to detain and deport immigrants, rupturing families, harming local and global economies, and exacerbating cycles of violence and forced migration. When immigrants and allies advocate for an end to their local government’s complicity with ICE’s detention and deportation apparatus, defenders of the status quo typically give four hollow reasons why local government should continue to profit from the misery ICE inflicts on immigrant communities.
It is not enough to dispel these four myths and end IGSAs. We must work toward building communities that are safe, welcoming, and empowering of immigrants, people of color, working class people, and all of us.
End Concentration Camps, Don’t Make Them More “Convenient”
As more and more harrowing images of the conditions within immigrant detention centers and concentration camps appear everyday, we must work toward ending these unjust and unnecessary imprisonments. The billions of dollars used to fund ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and other unaccountable agencies should be redirected to creating more equitable communities. When defenders of status quo IGSAs argue that the detention center in their county is more humane or closer to resources than the one in the next county, tell them those immigrants should not be detained at all and that the ICE dollars flowing into county coffers would be better spent on education and health care for all. We need to end concentration camps, not maintain convenient commutes to them.
End Cycles of Violence and Forced Migration, Don’t Hide Behind a Wall of Deportation
As people from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala continue to flee north, addressing the root causes of forced migration becomes more and more essential. United States immigration, trade, climate, and foreign policies are largely responsible for the economic, public safety, environmental, and political crises that force people from their homes and families in Central America and elsewhere. For example, U.S. policies of deporting gang members from Los Angeles and the arming of death squads in Central American armed conflicts create a toxic mix of trauma, desperation, and violence that exacerbate forced migration. Meanwhile, U.S. policies of climate denialism and trade agreements that undermine worker and environmental protections add ever greater pressure on people to leave their homes in search of shelter and sustenance. When defenders of status quo IGSAs argue that only violent criminals are being deported, tell them that not only is that untrue, but that attempts to hide behind a wall of deportation only adds fuel to the fire of forced migration and makes communities in all affected countries less safe.
Stand in Solidarity with Immigrants, Don’t “Lay Low”
Since immigrants and their families have always been under attack in the United States, the ethical response has always been to stand in solidarity with immigrants and push back against the violence being done to them. Mass deportation, wall building, and racial profiling are not policies that belong to President Trump alone. While these and other anti-immigrant, anti-Latinx, anti-Asian, anti-Black, anti-Semitic, and anti-Muslim policies have taken an overtly cruel turn under Trump, they have been implemented consistently by sequential administration and excelerated under Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama. When defenders of status quo IGSAs argue that the best thing for immigrants is for immigrants and allies to lay low until this blows over, tell them that safety for immigrants and marginalized communities has only ever come through solidarity and now is no time to “lay low.”
Amplify Immigrant Voices Calling for Justice, Don’t Speak For Them
Immigrant communities, like all communities, are not monolithic. It is important for people not directly affected by mass detention and deportation to listen first and speak out second. Overwhelmingly, however, immigrants oppose the detention and deportation of their loved ones. Overwhelmingly, immigrants support reforms that make it easier to live, work, and build communities in the place of their choosing. Furthermore, the principle of solidarity holds that groups that have been othered in the U.S. over time — Muslims, Jews, Latinxs, Asians, African Americans, and the majority of Americans who don’t fit the normative White Anglo-Saxon Protestant identity — also have a stake because our collective liberation is bound together. The same nativists attacking immigrants are also attacking many other communities. When defenders of status quo IGSAs argue that some immigrants support their county profiting from ICE’s detention of other immigrants, tell them to amplify immigrant voices calling for justice instead of speaking for them.
In conclusion, it is important we dispel myths used to maintain ICE’s Intergovernmental Service Agreement with local governments (including in Maryland: Howard County, Frederick County, and Worcester County) for the following four reasons:
- The goal is to end concentration camps, not make them more convenient.
- The only immigration reform that is truly comprehensive is one that addresses the root causes of forced migration; each deportation just feeds a vicious cycle.
- When immigrants are under attack, stand up and fight back. Solidarity is unconditional and unflinching.
- Amplify immigrant voices calling for justice, don’t speak for them to maintain an oppressive status quo.
