Mothers Day Protest Against Detention

Seventy people marched outside the South Bay Corrections and Detention Center on Mothers Day to support women who are imprisoned and detained across the USA. Everyday in Massachusetts, approximately 800 immigrants and asylum-seekers are in detention in county jails around the state waiting to be deported or fighting a legal battle o stay in the country. None of those persons are serving sentences for having committed a crime, nor have they been judged by a jury or their peers.

As the marchers circled the prison, prisoners inside held up signs with their names and complaints.

Many detainees detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been refused treatment for medical problems. The death of Hiu Lui Ng was among the most notorious cases, where ICE refused his pleas for medical attention for months, and Mr. Ng was guilty of overstaying his visa and died of liver cancer and a broken spine in 2008.

Women constitute roughly 10 percent of the annual 400,000 immigration detention population and about ten thousand women are detained annually by ICE. According to ICE, nearly 10 percent - were pregnant .

Groups participating include Resist The Raids Coalition, Boston Liberation Health Group, Boston May Day Committee, Deported Diaspora, Massachusetts Global Action. MataHari, and the Worcester Coalition for Immigrant Rights. API Movement spoke at the action.