At the 2012 Pacific Northwest Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA) Regional Conference, chapter leaders voted to endorse the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions aimed at forcing Israel to meet its obligations under international law. The Pacific Northwest MEChA Conference’s endorsement follows an endorsement made at the 2012 National MEChA Conference held in Phoenix, Arizona. That announcement came on a day that commemorated Cesar Chavez Day and Palestinian Land Day, linking the two liberation struggles against discrimination and oppression. The Regional Conference was hosted by the Evergreen State College MEChA chapter. Evergreen State College has recently been an epicenter of Palestine solidarity. In 2010, students voted overwhelmingly for divestment from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation, such as Caterpillar, Inc. Caterpillar has been the focus of calls for boycott at Evergreen since the death of Evergreen student Rachel Corrie in Gaza. Corrie was crushed under a Caterpillar D9 weaponized bulldozer operated by the Israeli military as she attempted to non-violently prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home. More recently TESC Divest! launched the We Divest! campaign to pressure investment giant TIAA-CREF to divest from companies profiting from the Israeli occupation, including Caterpillar and Elbit Systems. MEChA de Evergreen stated that “As a chapter, we endorse and support the global call for BDS... We recognize that our peoples’ historical and present struggles - against deportation, occupation, exploitation, and dehumanization - in Arizona, in the border, and in the United States - not only coincide, but are also connected to Palestinians’ struggle against Israeli military occupation and settlement of Palestine. Elbit, the company that provides surveillance equipment on Israel’s illegal apartheid wall in the West Bank, was also contracted by the U.S.

Every second Saturday of the month there is a Vigil in support of the rights of immigrants at the Northwest Detention Center. This past Saturday we had a march!

The detention center is controlled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but is run by the GEO Corp a for profit corporation who has ties to Guantanamo amongst other nefarious prison complexes. It holds 1,000 immigrants but is increasing to hold 1,500 none of whom are there because they are serving terms as criminals in prison.

Mostly Mexicans, around 50%, the average stay is close to 30 days if you sign papers saying you willingly want to be deported. However if you fight deportation you may get held there for 11 months to over 4 years. This is not punishment for a crime.

While many get referred here from Idaho, Oregon and Washington after getting picked up by the police, all jail time is served before they are sent to the facility. Some may have been placed here after a routine traffic infraction or for being brown while driving, others may have been picked up on home or business raids. Some are US citizens and are detained through confusion or because they don't have their papers on them.

The conditions under which they are held are deplorable ones with many getting sick from food poisoning as one recent example. If released they are dumped jobless, homeless and without money onto the streets of Tacoma, their old lives ruined.

Every second Saturday of the month there is a Vigil in support of the rights of immigrants at the Northwest Detention Center. This past Saturday we had a march!

 

The detention center is controlled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but is run by the GEO Corp a for profit corporation who has ties to Guantanamo amongst other nefarious prison complexes. It holds 1,000 immigrants but is increasing to hold 1,500 none of whom are there because they are serving terms as criminals in prison. Mostly Mexicans, around 50%, the average stay is close to 30 days if you sign papers saying you willingly want to be deported. However if you fight deportation you may get held there for 11 months to over 4 years. This is not punishment for a crime. While many get referred here from Idaho, Oregon and Washington after getting picked up by the police, all jail time is served before they are sent to the facility. Some may have been placed here after a routine traffic infraction or for being brown while driving, others may have been picked up on home or business raids. Some are US citizens and are detained through confusion or because they don't have their papers on them.

The conditions under which they are held are deplorable ones with many getting sick from food poisoning as one recent example. If released they are dumped jobless, homeless and without money onto the streets of Tacoma, their old lives ruined. They might have been tax payers with solid jobs, but when released they don't have a job anymore and become a burden on Tacoma's tax payers who pay for social services to get them on their feet. Which means a regional program dumps an increasing burden on one city. More than 10,000 people a year go through the detention center.