Last night’s theme of the RNC was “Country First” and it is clear current policy is not people first especially when it comes to the immigrant community. So while there are more speeches tonight and VP pick Palin will talk about her role as a woman and as a mother, there will be no talk of immigrant mothers and their issues. As Palin’s teen daughter moves forward with her now very public pregnancy, there will be no talk of immigrant women giving birth in chains.

Wednesday, September 3rd, 4pm

Offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement

425 “Eye” St. NW Washington D.C.

Sponsored by the D.C. Alliance for Immigrant Justice and the Metro D.C. Interfaith Sanctuary Network

On August 25, agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) descended on Howard Industries in the small town of Laurel, Mississippi. Agents arrested 595 workers in the largest immigration raid in U.S. history. Workers have been separated from their families and the local immigrant community has been terrorized. The superintendent of the county school district reported that half of the 160 Latino students were absent from school the next day.

“Basically, they create a major humanitarian crisis for families and spouses and children,” Bill Chandler of the Jackson-based Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA) told the Hattiesburg American. In some cases, he said, both parents were now gone in the raid, leaving their families totally alone.

The ACLU is investigating cases of civil rights abuses that took place during the raid. “We are deeply concerned by reports that workers at the factory where the raid occurred were segregated by race or ethnicity and interrogated, the factory was locked down for several hours, workers were denied access to counsel, and ICE failed to inform family members and lawyers following the raid where the workers were being jailed,” Mónica Ramírez, a staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project who is meeting with family members, said in a statement.

At this rally and press conference, activists from the Washington area immigrant rights movement will gather to speak out against this raid and demand an end to raids and deportations. The Mississippi raid comes shortly after a devastating raid at Dulles Airport and a smaller action in suburban Maryland just this week.

Via / Upset the Setup