IC4IJ Rejects Efforts to Build Children’s Detention Camps in the IE

Riverside, CA – The Inland Empire is home to over a million immigrants who are integral to the cultural, social and economic fabric of our region. We have stood strong against incessant attacks by anti-immigrant groups and racist fear-mongering driven by the current administration. Despite all of this, we are committed to continue our fight against any and all efforts to normalize the mistreatment of immigrants.

Every day, we’re seeing new tactics emerge with the sole intent of hurting our communities. Every day our community comes together and works to advance human rights and dignity in the face of these incessant attacks. We understand the ongoing effort, nationally, to normalize the violent conditions that immigrants are being forced to endure.

The expansion of detention camps designed to house immigrant children is inhumane, cruel and part of an agenda to further criminalize migration and the act of seeking asylum. Through our work with those seeking asylum and detained immigrants, we have learned and seen the deplorable conditions that these communities are subjected to by the federal government. From unsanitary quarters, to medical malpractice, denial of basic services – we know that these cages should not exist.

Calling them “shelters” for children is a euphemism attempting to hide the terrible conditions and mistreatment that children have been faced with. We do not want more camps in our community. This administration has already arbitrarily expanded detention by tens of thousands of beds, despite not having Congress approve this level of expansion. This proposed children detention camp is just one more in a line of unfettered expansion that is bolstering an all-out attack on immigrant families.

We reject the notion that incarcerating immigrants is a solution. San Bernardino and Riverside elected officials should not be complicit in the building of new ‘camps’ for immigrants.