September 29th, 2018
Dear ROPnet,
Sunday our journey begins! We look forward to seeing many of you this week for our 7-day march from Sheridan to NORCOR. Below you will find our schedule and press release. All are welcome to join us at events along the way.
See you on Sunday in Sheridan for our Kick Off Rally!
Warmly,
Cara, Hannah, Rindy, Jess, Martha, Grace, Caroline, Cathy and the ROP team
ROUTE AND SCHEDULE
Overview of the 7 Days of Action
Many of us will journey together for 7 days. All are welcome to join us for events along the way. See below for times and locations and follow the links to the Facebook events.
Day 1: Sunday, September 30th * Sheridan
Sheridan to NORCOR: The Kick Off Rally
1pm: Journeyers convene in Sheridan for set up and orientation.
4-6:30pm: The Kick Off Rally! Meet at South Side Park. Main parking at Sheridan High School. Rural caravans from around the state gather at FCI Sheridan to declare our resistance to detention and deportation and call for the end of ICE contracts at Oregon’s two detention centers: FCI Sheridan and NORCOR regional jail in The Dalles. We will rally together in front of FCI Sheridan and then share a langar, or communal meal, prepared by members of the Sikh community. Those continuing on with us the next day will return to camp at a farm nearby for a campfire and preparations for our first day of marching and caravanning.
Day 2: Monday, October 1st * McMinnville
Sheridan to NORCOR: Sanctuary in the Streets
9am: Journeyers walk or caravan approximately 5.5 miles to McMinnville
5:30pm: Rally outside the public library in downtown McMinnville
Day 3: Tuesday, October 2nd * Newberg
Sheridan to NORCOR: Community Canvass – No on Measure 105
9am: Journeyers walk or caravan approximately 5 miles from Dundee to Newberg.
1:30pm: Taking Action for Sanctuary in Oregon – No on Ballot Measure 105! An afternoon of electoral action–going door to door to talk with community members about why we need to vote no on Ballot Measure 105.
Day 4: Wednesday, October 3rd * Washington County
Sheridan to NORCOR: Sanctuary Everywhere
9am: We will convene together in Forest Grove, Washington County, home to incredible immigrant rights organizing, to march (and/or caravan) together. We will stop for lunch in Cornelius and continue onto an action Hillsboro.
4pm: Rally at Washington County Courthouse in Hillsboro where faith leaders and local organizers have been a constant for presence for one year. We will end our evening with a march to Shute Park and community picnic at 6:30pm.
Day 5: Thursday, October 4th * Portland
Sheridan to NORCOR: Unshackle Oregon
8am: Journeyers caravan to downtown Portland
9:30am: Meet up with us at Elizabeth Caruthers Park and march a few blocks to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where we’ll make our message clear: end the contracts in NORCOR and Sheridan.
1pm: Meet up at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1126 SW Park. Join rural and urban Oregonians as we come together and march to several locations along the water, throughout downtown, and across the bridge.
3:30pm: Rally and street event outside Congressional offices at Holladay Park in NE Portland.
Day 6: Friday, October 5th * Hood River
Sheridan to NORCOR: Somos Uno
10am: Journeyers caravan from Portland to Hood River
12pm: Lunch & afternoon action prep for journeyers – getting ready for NORCOR!
4:45pm: Rally and March in Hood River. Meet at Jackson Park located at May St & 13th St in Hood River. We will march and rally in downtown Hood River, calling attention to the impact of ICE in one local community. At 6pm we will convene at a local sanctuary church for a community dinner and celebration of our journey! Music, food and stories will fill our evening to celebrate the journey from Sheridan to the Gorge.
Day 7: Saturday, October 6th * The Dalles
Sheridan to NORCOR: The Send Off Rally
10am: Journeyers caravan from Hood River to The Dalles
10:30am: March through The Dalles! Meet up at the Sunshine Mill parking lot (901 E 2nd) on the east side of the parking lot–next to the grain silos. Journeyers, leaders and community members in the Gorge and friends from around the state will convene for a march through downtown. As we march, we will stop along the way to learn about the history of organizing and resistance to detention and deportation in the Gorge. We will end our march in front of NORCOR regional jail where journeyers and local organizers will lead us through some resistance in action!
1:30pm: Send off Rally at NORCOR: 211 Webber Street, The Dalles in solidarity with those detained inside. Political theater, music, speeches and more!
For Immediate Release:Sunday, September 30, 2018
Contact:Cara Shufelt, Rural Organizing Project, 503-543-8417, cara@rop.org
Rural Communities Across Oregon March Together to Call Attention to the Treatment of People in ICE custody and Demand Oregon End All Contracts with ICE
Sheridan, Oregon — Starting today through October 6th, people who have experienced immigration detention, as well as immigrant rights advocates and rural community leaders and members will join together for an unprecedented week-long march across Oregon to celebrate community and denounce Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The march, beginning at the Sheridan prison and concluding at the NORCOR county jail, will call attention to the treatment of people held there in ICE custody and the use of Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities for ICE detention, while demanding Oregon end all of its contracts with ICE.
“We believe that every person has the right to live with the dignity and move freely in their community without fear of being separated from their loved ones,” said Cara Shufelt of the Rural Organizing Project, the group coordinating the march. “ICE operates in complete opposition to these values. This is not a reflection of our Oregon.”
Marchers will begin at the Sheridan prison, where, since June, immigrants in ICE custody have been held under a new interagency agreement between ICE and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The agreement to use BOP facilities for ICE detention came during the height of the family separation crisis, a strategic move by ICE to expand its already massive detention system to bolster the administration’s relentless efforts to appropriate more funds to the agency.
“The community’s reaction to the insidious partnership between ICE and BOP at the Sheridan prison was swift and powerful,” said Miriam Vargas Corona, Unidos Bridging Community. “Thousands have consistently traveled from around the State to rally against BOP’s and ICE’s agreement. Dozens of immigrants and refugees at Sheridan have been released due to the work of lawyers and community pressure.”
The community pressure in opposition to ICE — particularly that of small town, rural Oregonians — also extends to the end-marker of the march, NORCOR county jail in the Dalles, as people have continually been outraged by the happenings at the facility. In May 2017, immigrants and refugees detained by ICE at NORCOR went on a hunger strike to demand better conditions, like hot meals and access to jobs and programs. NORCOR will soon have to renegotiate their contract with ICE. We call for an end to the ICE contract.
“Concluding the march at NORCOR underscores the urgent need to release people in ICE custody,” said John Boonstra, Gorge Ecumenical Ministries. “We’re at a particularly salient moment at NORCOR. Its contract is up for renewal and new leadership is taking over this fall and this presents an opportunity to make clear that ICE is an agency that lacks accountability or transparency and perpetuates abuse. This is the time for NORCOR to end its contract with ICE.”
Marchers will be calling upon our neighbors to join us in voting No on Ballot Measure 105 this November. Measure 105 would overturn a 30 year old state law, passed to ensure that local resources, like police, could not be used to enforce federal immigration laws. “When there are rural communities who do not even have 24 hour 911 service, we need to focus our resources in meeting the real needs of our communities, “ said Martha Verduzco, Hood River Latino Network. “ This law could easily open the door for racial profiling and injustice.”
This journey is made possible by the collective effort of the following organizations: Rural Organizing Project, Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice, ICE Out of Sheridan, Unidos Bridging Community, Hood River Latino Network, Gorge ICE Resistance, Gorge Ecumenical Ministries, PCUN, Causa, Capaces Leadership Institute, Innovation Law Lab, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Enlace, American Friends Service Committee, Basic Rights Oregon, OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, Portland Tenants Union, McKenzie River Gathering, Working Families Party, SEIU 49 and others.For a list of each day’s locations and activities, please visit: www.rop.org/sheridan-to-norcor
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The Rural Organizing Project (ROP) is a statewide organization of locally-based groups that work to create communities accountable to a standard of human dignity: the belief in the equal worth of all people, the need for equal access to justice and the right to self-determination.