Massive Protest Demands Release of Mothers and Children Incarcerated at Dilley, Karnes, and Berks

Solidarity actions planned in three cities, event kicks off a week of action demanding the Obama Administration #EndFamilyDetention

(DILLEY, Texas) — On May 2, more than 500 people from across Texas and the nation will converge on the family detention camp in Dilley, Texas to call for an end to the Obama Administration’s inhumane and illegal policy of locking up refugee parents and children. These families are fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries only to face indefinite imprisonment in the U.S.

When:

11-11:30 a.m. – Marchers being to arrive at the park on Commerce Street in Dilley
12:00 p.m. – March begins from the park on Commerce Street in Dilley
1:15 p.m. – Protest begins in front of the detention camp in Dilley

Where: Day begins at the park near Dilley City Hall, 101 S Commerce St Dilley, TX 78017. Protesters will march to Dilley detention camp, 1925 W. Highway 85, Dilley, TX 78017.

What: Protesters will gather for music, a march, chanting, letter writing, speakers directly affected by family detention, and street theater.

Organizations supporting, and whose members are participating in the protest include: Grassroots Leadership, Texans United for Families, Office of Immigration Issues—Presbyterian Church (USA), St. Andrews Presbyterian Church of Austin, United Methodist Women, Justice for Our Neighbors, National Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministries — United Methodist Church, General Board of Church & Society — United Methodist Church, 1st United Universalist Church of Austin, Detention Watch Network, Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), ACLU of Texas, Rio Grande Equal Voice Network, Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP), RAICES Texas, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition, Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies & Collections — University of Texas at Austin, Department of Geography & Environment & Native American and Indigenous Studies — University of Texas at Austin

People are joining the protest from all over Texas and the U.S., including community members from Austin, San Antonio, Houston, the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, Dallas, Falfurrias, San Marcos, and Elgin, Texas; as well as from Silver City and Santa Fe NM, Des Moines IA, Washington D.C., New York City, the Bay Area and Orange County, California.

Solidarity actions and protests will occur the same day at the family detention center in Berks, Pennsylvania; the Aurora Detention Center in Denver, Colorado; and at the White House in D.C.