ELKHART — A coalition of people opposed to a proposed private detention center are now distributing yard signs, buttons and stickers to present visual messages of opposition in Elkhart County.
The coalition has also won the support of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.
CoreCivic of Tennessee has applied for the rezoning of farmland along C.R. 7 across from the Elkhart County Landfill and Elkhart County jail to build a $100 million detention center that would eventually house up to 1,400 immigrants being held in custody before deportation. The county plan commission will hear that proposal Feb. 8 and pass on a recommendation related to the rezoning to county commissioners. The commissioners are expected to make a final decision on the rezoning request at the March 19 meeting.
In the weeks and months leading up to those meetings, opponents have been holding rallies, prayer events and informational meetings. Their latest effort Tuesday brought together 10 people speak to the media about why they are against allowing CoreCivic to build its detention center.
Dara Marquez, who said she is an undocumented immigrant from Apan, Hidalgo, Mexico, told media gathered at the Elkhart Public Library, “My family came to Elkhart County to specifically work in the RV industry, which at the time, sought manufacturing skilled workers without much thought on the legality of their work eligibility. From the moment my family and I arrived here and as we began to settle down, we were already witnessing the systems of oppression that have led us to today’s topic of discussion.”
Marquez said the nation’s past includes many injustices against people of color, especially the importation of Africans as slave labor.
“These actions became justified, normal and legal,” Marquez said of the past. “That brings us to today, where, despite our best efforts to end the tendencies of racism, we have traded slave hunters
for departments of law enforcement. We have mass incarceration of people of color, state laws and policies that benefit for-profit prisons by encouraging racial profiling and, in general, policies that further encourage oppression and assaulting people of color.”
Richard Aguirre, cocoordinator of the coalition, encouraged attendees to be “direct and honest” about President Donald Trump’s comments related to immigrants.
“I believe the American dream is threatened today from a U.S. president and an administration that is seeking to reverse decades of immigration policy,” Aguirre said Tuesday. “Their destructive approach was revealed to the world over the past year and especially last week.”
Last week, President Donald Trump reportedly used a vulgarity to describe African nations and Haiti and questioned why the U.S. should allow immigration from those countries.
“President Trump is racist,” Aguirre said. “It is time we called him out for what he and his administration are trying to do. Through his harsh immigration policies and enforcement actions, President Trump and his allies in the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and Congress want to stop people of color from coming to this country.”
Marbella Chavez, who told the group she is the daughter of immigrants, said members of the immigrant community have to push back against policies that harm them.