Vigil At Deportation Center

“Show me what democracy looks like, this is what democracy looks like”, this was chanted by workers, organizers, clergy and youth as they were being arrested for blocking a van that was transporting undocumented immigrants from Broadview’s Detention Center to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to be deported. The preparation for this civil disobedience action began the night before. Christian and Jewish Religious Leaders led a crowd of about two-hundred people in prayer and reflection. We asked strength and the wisdom of the Spirit to accompany us and those being deported. There are an estimated 1,100 people deported every day since Obama took Office. We also heard the story of Leticia, a young mother of two, who through tears narrated how her husband, Luis, was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and was now waiting to be deported inside that same center. A few brick walls, armed ICE Officers and the lack of nine-digits, what Leticia called a Social Security Number, was keeping her children from being with their father.

The night weather was cold and the crowd of two hundred dispersed throughout the night while a group of enthusiastic youth stayed behind chanting, singing and telling their story. They shared what it means to be undocumented and, in some cases, what it means to have your parents or other loved ones live with the challenges of not having a Social Security Number. In the midst of songs and poetry the buses transporting deportees began to arrive around 3:00 A.M. Unmarked vans and shuttle buses lined-up in front of the center as they awaited their turn to drop-off our migrant brothers and sisters. Inside the cars the men and women sat shackled by their ankles and wrists , having only the clothes in which they were apprehended.  The mood grew really heavy. A few of us spoke directly to the men and women inside the vans, both officers and migrants. Some spoke messages of hope and solidarity to those who where going to be processed in the center and others attempted to deliver a message of compassion and conscience to the officers.

As I sat and prayed by myself during the cold night, I kept asking God and myself who would benefit from separating families, terrorizing children with the immanent threat of having one of their parents taken away, and from destabilizing entire communities. According to the Detention Watch Network (DWN), the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and the GEO Group Inc. make an estimated $1.5 billion in revenue with a net income of $133 million a year. In many ways, undocumented immigrants have become a commodity for our society. CCA operates 65 facilities in 19 states and the District of Columbia with more than 75,000 beds and nearly 17,000 employees. 12 of CCA’s facilities are used to hold immigration detainees. GEO operates 50 facilities in 16 states and one in Guantanamo Bay. In the long run, however, no one will benefit. Fearful children will make fearful adults. This will only create cycles of social alienation and violence. My cold feet and nose brought me to the realization that while the rule of law and sovereignty of a nation is important and valuable, the price that we will pay for it will be very costly.

As the Sun was coming out, our religious leaders, youth and other organizers reconvened for another moment of prayer.  We all felt very exhausted and nervous as the consequences that the arrest could have on their lives were explained to our friends. Miguel Gutierrez, a young twenty-three year-old, who was going to risk arrest told us that given his background as the son of undocumented immigrants he had to use his inherited privilege.  Compared to what many immigrants endure, as a U.S. citizen, he felt it was the least that he could do. After a few chants and songs, the huge electric gates of Broadview’s Detention Center opened and a white, unmarked van pulled out. Twenty-two men and women stand in front of them. Rapidly, the traffic, commercial trucks and workers living leaving the factories around the areas began to pile up in what was an empty street. While the men and women, now sitting on the ground chanted and called on the officers to let go of the deportees, the cameras of the media were gathered around the “protestors”. As I watched and heard the chants, such a scene was a marvel to me. We were exercising our right to come together and we knew that although our friends will be arrested they will live to see another day. The same police that took them away will make sure that their safety, for the most part, was guaranteed. If this is what democracy looks like, why would we not let others, 12 Million plus people, who live under the shadows of our society, partake of it fully?

*Written by Hugo Esparza, CP

* All Photos taken from www.icirr.org (Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights)