Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: The Fight to End 287G in Charlotte and Beyond
Webinar Discussion with Community Organizers and Lawyers Who Fought to End ICE Collaboration
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 28, 2019
Contact:
"Julie" Yihong Mao, jmao@nipnlg.org
When
Thursday, March 14 at 5PM ET / 4 PM CT / 2 PM PT
Background
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, which contains the city of Charlotte, was one of the oldest, most notorious ICE collaborators in the country. Starting in 2006, under a program known as 287g which deputizes local police as immigration agents, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office has been responsible for placing more than 15,000 community members into deportation proceedings and ICE detention. At the same time, the Sheriff’s Office had become a regional hub for incarcerating immigrants and promoting harsh “tough on crime” policies including juvenile solitary confinement and bans on in-person visitation.
On December 5, 2018, under the new sheriff Garry McFadden, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office ended its 287g program and long-time collaboration with ICE. The end of the 287g program was the result of large-scale community organizing and mobilization across the city of Charlotte, particularly from community residents who saw ending 287g as a part of a larger intersectional movement for police accountability, human rights, and racial justice.
Join us for a discussion with some of the community organizers and lawyers who fought to end ICE collaboration in Mecklenburg County and currently fighting ICE retaliatory raids targeting the community for ending such collaboration.
Who
Julie Mao, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
Stefania Arteaga, Comunidad Colectiva
Oliver Merino, Comunidad Colectiva
Sun H, Southeast Asian Coalition
But there’s a message there for everyone and it is that people can unite, that democracy from below can challenge oligarchy, that imprisoned migrants can be freed, that fascism can be overcome, and that equality is emancipatory.
- Angela Davis
Learn about grassroots organizing and education strategies, the importance of pushing beyond ending the 287g program, and the “alphabet soup” of ICE-police collaboration.
Register for the Webinar Here »
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