Hundreds rally at the Northwest Immigrant Detention Center
Tacoma, WA – Over 150 demonstrators gathered outside the Northwest ICE Immigrant Detention Center Sunday, September 1 to demand closure of the facility.
“We are here to show solidarity with those inside who are protesting their wrongful imprisonment,” said Rufina Reyes, director of La Resistencia. “We are here every day, but today is special because we are joined by the organization Tsuru for Solidarity, celebrating the resilience of their ancestors who survived the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.”
The program began with a taiko performance by a coalition of seven taiko drumming groups in Washington state. Many protesters wore yukata. After the taiko performance, members of the Puyallup Water Warriors Council and other Coast Salish Indigenous people gave a land acknowledgement and performed two drum prayers for the crowd.
After the early performances, a group of detainees video called from inside the detention center in order to speak with the crowd.
Addressing a growing crowd of hundreds, one detainee said: “Keep doing what you’re doing, keep supporting us, because it’s what’s giving us hope to continue fighting.”
The caller continued, “There’s many people in here who can’t speak English, so I advocate for them. Then I’m the one who gets retaliated against because they know I act as a spokesperson for those who can’t stand up for themselves.”
The crowd responded with a series of chants including “When immigrant rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and “What do we want? Freedom! When do we want it? Now!”
A second detainee then joined the video call and addressed the crowd in Spanish. Maru Mora Villalpando, founder of La Resistencia, translated for the crowd, “Inside here we have no rights. We want to fight for our rights, so we need you to keep fighting so we have the hope. There are many people inside with families. I have four children, and ICE doesn’t care what happens to them. They say to us ‘don’t worry, America will take care of them’ but that’s not true, America is not taking care of them, America will not do what parents need to do for their children.”
The crowd responded with another series of chants including: “¡No están solos! You are not alone!” and “¡Chinga la Migra! Fuck ICE!”
The program continued throughout the afternoon with more chants, healing ceremonies, food and folk dancing. The attitude of the crowd was both celebratory and somber, as summed up by Reyes: “We are really happy to see so many people out here, but we need more. On the inside, they are happy because they know we’re still out here fighting.”