[Press Advisory:Nov20 @4:30pm] Protest/Action @Heartland Alliance Fundraising Gala

[Jose]

Press Advisory for Protest/Action

November 20, 4-7pm @ Swissotel

Press Contacts: Rozalinda 813-789-0123

Rbor...@yahoo.com

Protest Heartland Alliance Fundraising Gala

for profiting from the detention/suffering of unaccompanied migrant children

 

WHEN: WEDNESDAY, November 20^th, starting at 4:30pm. 

WHERE: 323 E Wacker Dr. Chicago, IL. Swissotel.

WHAT: Community organizations gather to denounce Heartland Alliance for profiting from the detention of migrant children and for cooperating with ICE. Groups are demanding Heartland end their detention of migrant children, boycott and divest from all forms of cooperation with border enforcement. 

Organizations have also issued an open letter to Andrea Blackwell [@agb4equity], founder of PolicyLink, asking her to withdraw from being a keynote speaker at Heartland Alliance’s annual fundraiser and to make a public statement pledging her support for shutting down Heartland Alliance’s child detention centers. Over two-dozen local organizations already have signed up. 

[Open letter to Andrea Blackwell: https://forms.gle/US5j3uDcPsSwG5LW6 ]

DEMANDS: 

“ We demand that Heartland Alliance and its division Heartland Human Care Services (HHCS):

1. Immediately cease taking immigrant children into their detention centers

2. Immediately end their contract with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to detain immigrant children and cease relationships with all forms of detention. 

3. Release and reunify the immigrant children in their physical custody with their sponsors and families in the United States as soon as possible without sharing their sponsors’ personal information (including biometrics, addresses and contact info) with ICE or with any federal agency that shares information with ICE; and

4. Provide public admittance of the damage done to the kids and families in and outside Heartland’s dehumanizing detention centers.

Facebook Nov. 20^th Event Page: www.fb.com/events/548434305724031 

BACKGROUND: 

Former Detention Staff Speaks Out: “This Is Legalized Kidnapping”

“Hidden in Plain Sight”: Hundreds of Immigrant Children and Teens Housed in Opaque Network of Chicago-Area Shelters

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