9/11 (The War on Immigrants), September 11, 10-5pm
The attacks of September 11, 2001 and the emergence of The War on Terrorism have produced aggressive networks of punishment, mass warehousing, and criminalization that deploy an unjust system of detention and deportation. Recent reports and academic research indicate that the U.S. government’s trend has been to increase the privatization of the detention center system as a way to increase national security measures. With the help of scholars, activists and legal advocates, awareness about the conditions and treatment of detained immigrants help in pressuring government officials to adopt reformative detention guidelines. To address this current reality, ‘Make a Movement’ Sundays: 9/11 (The War on Immigrants)” collaborated with IRATE/First Friends to train people to participate in a visitor program to visit immigrants detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center in Elizabeth, NJ. After the training the participants traveled to the detention center to visit immigrants who have been converted into prisoners of the ”nation of immigrants.” After the visitation, the participants made a drawing of an officer based on the descriptions given by the detainees of the officer who arrested them.
