tags: , , , , Blog

Dreamers and Allies Risk Arrest at Broward Transitional Center in Florida During Civil Disobedience

by Americas's Voice on

Share This:

Immigrant youth and families push President Obama to “Let their People Go,” as he prepares for historic announcement on immigration

Today, seven brave Dreamers and allies are risking arrest by obstructing the entrance to the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, FL. The decision to risk arrest happened after more than 100 Dreamers and their families came together at the detention facility, shared stories and demanded for the detainees to be released. The vast majority of the almost 700 people inside are low-priority immigrants who could potentially  benefit from President Obama’s imminent announcement on administrative action on immigration.

As Nestor Ruiz, a leader from United We Dream-Tampa Bay, a UWD affiliate and one of the participants in the civil disobedience said in a statement:

I decided to get arrested today because Broward Transitional Center hits very close to home for me. In 2006, my father spent four months detained here before being deported back to Mexico and I haven’t seen him since then.”

I have taken action not only for my father, but for the hundreds of other fathers and mothers who became victims of President Obama’s deportation machine and haven’t seen their children in months or even years. I don’t want anyone else to experience that same type of pain.

Like my father, the people on the other side of this wall are not threats to our community or our country. President Obama promised to protect people like my father, and like the hundreds of people inside the Broward Transitional Center. Now, he has the historic chance to do so by extending administrative relief to millions of undocumented immigrants.

View some of the photos from today’s action in Florida below: