Over the weekend of June 20-22, Pax Christi USA leadership will participate in a prayerful witness and pilgrimage at the South Louisiana Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana. This action is being organized by members of Christians for Ceasefire and Just Peace.
According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), as of May 18:
- 51,302 persons are detained in ICE facilities across the United States (as of June 1).
- 7,228 of these prisoners are held in Louisiana’s nine ICE facilities.
- 43.1 percent of ICE prisoners have no criminal record.
- The South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, operated by the GeoGroup, has a record of human rights violations.
The Bible commands nations to welcome and care for the stranger and render justice to those who are oppressed, but the current immigration policies of the US do the opposite. These policies rip families apart by rounding up and deporting immigrants. They target foreign students for their activism against the genocide in Gaza. They spend billions of dollars on surveillance technology and build prisons run by for-profit corporations like GeoGroup. They foster local economic dependence on a single employer (the prison) rather than building a healthy, diversified local economy that can sustain a wholesome community. These policies rapaciously spread racism throughout our communities.
All are welcome to join a caravan with cars and vans driving from Washington DC (and possibly from Atlanta, Nashville, and Chicago) to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center to support the persons being held there, to recognize their human and legal rights, and to pray for a change of heart from the hateful rhetoric and actions that are gripping this country.
- Participants will arrive in Lafayette, LA on June 20. (You are welcome to arrive in Lafayette by other modes of transportation; joining the car/van caravan is not required to participate.)
- The June 21 day of action in Basile will include community building with locals at a nearby church, a pilgrimage walk to the detention center where it is hoped religious leaders can visit with persons inside while others hold vigil outside, and a concluding interfaith prayer service.
- Participants will caravan back from Lafayette to our respective homes on June 22.
>>Use this link to register to join. Pax Christi USA Executive Director Charlene Howard and national council chair Sherry Simon both plan to attend.
All participants must endorse the Sabeel Commitment to Nonviolence prior to the weekend. Use this link to read the commitment.
Cover photo of the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile by John Grey/Verite News