07/11/2018
Update from our comrades at Liberation Project:
PRESS RELEASE: July 10, 2018
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OCCUPY ICE PHL TO MAYOR: TIME IS RUNNING OUT.
CHOOSE A SIDE: PHILLY IMMIGRANTS OR TRUMP
Activists at the Occupy ICE Philadelphia camp outside City Hall, along with hundreds of others representing a broad coalition of leftists from groups including Philly Socialists, the DSA, Liberation Project, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Socialist Alternative and more, are calling on Mayor Kenney to stop making empty promises and to pick a side in our fight for immigrants’ rights.
On Monday, July 9, Mayor Kenney met with activists from the immigration advocacy group Juntos, as well as activists representing the encampment at City Hall and its coalition partners. Though the mayor has repeatedly expressed agreement with the protesters’ demands and their right to protest, the mayor refused to budge on their simplest demand: to end the city’s contract granting ICE access to a law enforcement database, known as the Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System (PARS).
The mayor has also cut off power to the ICE encampment without warning, despite saying he supports their right to occupy.
This is a real litmus test for the mayor: he can stand up for immigrants and make Philadelphia a true Sanctuary City, or he can drown in a flurry of excuses which amount to a grand capitulation to the Trump administration. Kenney has built a national brand on resisting Trump, yet he refuses to meet even our most basic demand. Kenney represents the final roadblock to ending ICE collaboration with the city via the PARS database; District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office has already come out in support of ending the contract, but they need the mayor to sign off as well.
The mayor also has the opportunity to use his voice and platform to push for the closing of the Berks Detention Facility and for the abolition of ICE, in the same way that hundreds of mayors have used their platform to call for prison reform, climate change action and other issues.
We have an ultimatum: If the mayor keeps using doublespeak, saying he supports the protesters and immigrants while refusing to act on our demands, we promise to ramp up action in the coming weeks around the city. We will not let Mayor Kenney rest.
We are building a broad coalition of leftists, progressives, and working-class immigrant communities that will challenge Kenney at every turn. We also remind him that Philadelphia voters are paying close attention to his actions; in recent years many incumbents have been unseated by a wave of progressive challengers, and any politician caught collaborating with ICE is likely to face the consequences of that decision in 2019.
Mayor Kenney: speak the truth, use your platform, make Philadelphia a true Sanctuary City, or expect more action.
