Border Encuentro – 2017
Tucson, Arizona
Eloy Detention Center, Arizona
Border Wall – Nogales, Sonora, Mexico / Nogales, Arizona, USA
SOA (School of the Americas) Watch –
Border Encuentro – November 10-12, 2017
Organized by School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch), thousands from north and south of the border wall, were brought together to take a hard look at the massive human costs of border militarization and US immigration policies… and to protest the long and current history of US intervention in the affairs of Latin America.
From the SOA Watch website:
“Our Mission:
SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement working to close the SOA / WHINSEC and similar centers that train state actors such as military, law enforcement and border patrol. We strive to expose, denounce, and end US militarization, oppressive US policies and other forms of state violence in the Americas. We act in solidarity with organizations and movements working for justice and peace throughout the Americas.
Our demands:
– An end to US economic, military and political intervention in Latin America
– Demilitarization and divestment of the borders
– An end to the racist systems of oppression that criminalize and kill migrants, refugees and communities of color
– Respect, dignity, justice and the right to self-determination of communities
– An end to Plan Mérida and the Alliance for Prosperity”
Border Encuentro – 2017
Eloy Detention Center, Arizona
SOA (School of the Americas) Watch –
Border Encuentro – November 10-12, 2017
Vigil outside Eloy Detention Center, Eloy, Arizona.
Day 1 – SOA Watch Border Encuentro 2017 – US District Court, Tucson to Eloy Detention Center, Eloy, Arizona
End Operation Streamline!
The US District Court in Tucson is one of 7 courts along the border where Operation Streamline operates. The court proceeding convicts up to 70 people of “illegal re-entry after deportation” in a group hearing that lasts under 2 hours. The court appointed lawyers have 20-30 minutes to get to know their clients. All those convicted serve at least 1-6 months in private prisons. The private prisons receive millions of taxpayer dollars for incarcerating immigrants.
“Many investigative reports have exposed the links between these companies and an increase in immigrant detainees. Programs like Secure Communities and SB1070 ensure this corruption continues”
The Eloy Detention Center, located an hour north of Tucson in the Sonora Desert, is one of many private prisons in the US, used to incarcerate immigrants. Like other private prisons, Eloy serves to profit off of laws that fill its beds.