'Peaceful Disobedience' Rocks ICE Office In Newark (VIDEOS)

NEWARK, NJ — If you want to see the “horrors” of the United States’ broken immigration system, you don’t need to leave New Jersey, a coalition of civil rights activists say.

Last week, about 200 protesters took to the streets and sidewalks in downtown Newark, blocking Broad Street in an attempt to grind down the gears of an ICE field office that oversees hundreds of deportations a month.

Ultimately, police took 13 protesters into custody during the “peaceful civil disobedience action,” according to organizers with national Jewish-led movement Never Again Action. (Watch videos below)

The following people and one juvenile were arrested, organizers said: Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster (Teaneck), Rabbi Michael Moskowitz (Lakewood), Faye Lederman (Montclair), Jeffrey Lewkowitz (West New York), Whitney Strub (Newark), Katia Oltmann (Jersey City), Ashley Puk (Westwood), Caitlin Sherman (Weehawken), Joshua Potash (Queens), Narruz Baum (Hopewell), Miguel Romero-Trejos (New Brunswick), Yi Li (Jersey City).

Protesters released the following list of demands:

• End all ICE detention contracts in Hudson, Essex, Bergen and Union counties
• End New Jersey Democrats’ collaboration with ICE
• Make driver’s licenses available for all so immigrants can drive without fear

“Never Again means never again for anyone” Never Again Action organizer Yael Webber said. “As Jews, we refuse to look the other way when vulnerable communities are targeted. We know what it means for people to make desperate choices, to be separated from their families, and to be denied basic rights.”

“We know how this story ends,” Webber added, making an ominous allusion to the Holocaust.

For those who discount the comparison between U.S. immigration policy and the death camps and crematoria seen during the Holocaust – one of the most infamous tragedies in world history – maybe it’s time to take another look, Webber says.

“It started with hateful rhetoric and the implementation of laws targeting Jews (and others),” Webber said. “This is precisely how the United States is currently treating undocumented immigrants, and we stand in solidarity with immigrant communities who demand an end to the brutality of ICE and the horrors of our detention and deportation system. This is happening right here in New Jersey, and the time for action is now.”

• See related article: 36 Jewish Activists Arrested Protesting ICE In Elizabeth (VIDEO)
• See related article: Newark Catholics Form Human Cross, Risk Arrest For Immigrants

Organizers said the Oct. 3 rally in Newark was timed to coincide with the Ten Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), a period in which Jews are called to deep introspection, prayer and repentance.

The protest included Jewish protest melodies and chants led by cantor Erica Lipitz of Congregation Oheb Shalom and the Solidarity Singers. Speakers included Rabbi Mike Moskowitz of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster of T’ruah: Rabbis for Human Rights, and Rabbi Elliott Tepperman from B’nai Keshet synagogue, as well as Alejandro Jaramillo and members of Cosecha NJ and Unidad Latina en Acción NJ.

Sponsors included: Cosecha-New Jersey; Northern New Jersey Jewish Voice for Peace; Outlive Them NYC; Congregation Beit Simchat Torah; T'ruah (Rabbis for Human Rights); North New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America; AFSC Immigrant Rights Program; SOMA Action; Unidad Latina de Acción NJ; NYC DSA Immigrant Justice Working Group; NJ-08 for Progress; Rise and Resist NYC; Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War; NJ State Industrial Union Council; Wind of the Spirit; Green Party of Essex County; Jobs and Equal Rights for All Campaign; D.I.R.E.-Deportation & Immigration Response Equipo; Haiti Solidarity Network of the Northeast (HSNNE); Northern NJ Socialist Party (SPUSA).

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COUNTER-PROTEST

During the Oct. 3 rally, a pair of men wearing bandanas tied around their faces set up a counter-protest, waving a U.S. flag and shouting that the activists were “filthy communist degenerates” and “Jewish terrorists.”

In response, the activists rallied with a chant of “Cowards hide their faces!”

At the direction of local police, the two counter-protesters then marched to a nearby corner, where they continued to wave their flag and shout racial and gender slurs. Watch an edited video below. (WARNING: Video contains offensive language)

‘PROFITEERING’ DEMOCRATS

It’s not just President Donald Trump that New Jersey residents need to keep in check, some advocates say.

“While claiming to resist Trump, New Jersey Democrats are taking millions of dollars from ICE to lock up our immigrant community members in the county jails,” said Jeff Lewkowitz of the North New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Activists at the Oct. 3 rally said Essex, Hudson, and Bergen counties all contract with ICE for nearly $100 million annually altogether, while holding immigrants in “atrocious conditions” that have included allegations of violent abuse, sexual assault, suicide attempts and punitive deportations to those in urgent need of healthcare.

“Meanwhile, Democrats who promise resistance say nothing about this profiteering, such as Sen. Cory Booker, whose bold rhetoric goes silent in the face of the ICE detention center run by his political patron, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo,” Never Again Action stated.

• See related article: Protesters Rally At Cory Booker POTUS Fundraiser In Belleville
• See related article: Activists Rally In Newark: 'No ICE Blood Money At Essex Prison'
• See related article: Essex County Plans To Use ICE Profits To Give Detainees Lawyers

DRIVERS LICENSES FOR UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

Never Again Action also joined immigrant rights organizations across the state in a call for the immediate passage of pending legislation that would expand access to driver licenses to immigrants.

More than half of all detentions and deportations across the country begin with a traffic stop, and immigrants have been organizing for decades to demand that the state of New Jersey allow them to drive without fear of being separated from their families, the group stated.

“A driver’s license is not a luxury, it’s a basic necessity,” said Candido Osorio, a spokesperson for the Cosecha Movement. “We cannot depend on politicians who for 18 years have failed to deliver on the promise of passing the drivers licenses bill. It is up to us to fight for dignity, respect and the right to drive without fear.”

• See related article: Give My Mom A Driver's License For Mother's Day, NJ Kids Plead

The following videos of the Oct. 3 rally come courtesy of Ed Coleman, Fern Da Silva and Emily Rosenzweig.

FUTURE NEWARK RALLY

New Jersey-based Resist the Deportation Machine Network, along with other labor, immigrant, community and environmental groups, will hold a rally and march in Newark on Saturday, Oct. 12 to demand the end of ICE operations in Essex County and across the nation.

The action is being held in solidarity with the national “Close the Concentration Camps” campaign. It will begin with a 1 p.m. rally at Peter Francisco Park next to Newark Penn Station. At 2:30 p.m., those gathered will then march to the ICE office at 354 Doremus Avenue in Newark.

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