Teaneck joins nationwide vigil to protest immigration camps – NorthJersey.com

TEANECK — Arati Kreibich came to the United States from India when she was 11 years old, and like many immigrants she was fearful of being turned away after a long journey.

Kreibich was accepted into the United States, and along with achieving her Ph.D in neuroscience, she currently serves as a council member in Glen Rock. Friday night, she, along with hundreds of New Jersey residents, Teaneck Women Together and several other support groups joined the nation in protesting the immigration camps on our country’s southern border.

“We have a moral obligation to demand that we, as a country do better,” said Kreibich. “I get that we have a crisis at our borders, but that shouldn’t be met with cruelty or careless disregard. It should be met with humanity and kindness.” 

Among the crowd gathered at the flagpole at the Teaneck Municipal building, protesters sported signs saying  “Kids in Cages is Outrageous” and “My Ancestors were Immigrants.” 

It wasn’t long before chants began to break out from the crowd, such as “Close the Camps!” and “Restore American Democracy.”

“When it comes to protecting children we have to be ferocious,” said Dave Marain, of Fair Lawn.  “People like congressman Josh Gottheimer, and anyone else who signed the recent border bill that funds these border agencies is complicit in the death of children if they’re sent back to the poor conditions of Mexico and Central America.”

Mexico is the country’s largest source of immigrants, making up 25 percent of all U.S. immigrants, according to the most recent Pew Research data.

More: How many people have been ordered deported in NJ and NY?

In response to the negative feedback at Friday night’s vigil regarding the recent emergency border funding bill, Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) defended his actions.   

“With so many childrens’ lives at stake, I voted with 84 Senators, including two-thirds of the Democrats, to deliver immediate humanitarian aid to the border with strict restrictions on how the funds could be deployed,” said Gottheimer. “I chose to do something, and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Anything short of that was unconscionable to me.”    

The vigil took a somber turn when Lucria Ortiz, one of the event coordinators, introduced several youth who read grim statements written by immigrant detainees. 

“Three days ago my baby soiled his clothes; I had no place to wash the clothes so I could not put them back on my baby because when he went to the bathroom his poop came out of his diaper and all over his clothing,” read one young girl from the perspective of a 17-year-old immigrant mother. “Since then, my baby of only 3 months has only been wearing a small little jacket made of T-shirt material.”

A vigil was also held outside the Essex County jail in Newark, the site of several actions in the past year, where protesters have called for the correctional facility to stop housing ICE detainees. 

Organizers said they want to expose and protest the inhumane conditions faced by immigrant detainees across the country and also call out policies that separate families. 

“The overreliance of Essex County, a Democratic County, on money generated by immigration detention is deeply disturbing,’’ said Serges Demefack, project coordinator of End Detention and Deportation at American Friends Service Committee. “It is unwise to balance the county budget on the backs of immigrant detainees.” 

At 9 p.m. candles were lit in Teaneck and at the 700 other vigils that were planned across five continents.

Teaneck Mayor  Mohammed Hameeduddin followed the lighting with a prayer and a reading from the Quran, stating that whether you are religious or not, the immigrants at the border need our prayers.

Ortiz and several other spokespeople concluded the event by elaborating on safe measures that illegal immigrants must take against ICE as explained in the “Know Your Rights” guides.

“Immigrants are America, diversity is America,” shouted Ortiz. “Our leadership has failed, it’s time for us, the people they work for to put more pressure on them — tonight we stand in unison with the world.”

More Local news

POLICE: ‘Double dip’ costs Passaic County Undersheriff Mario Recinos nearly $400K

NORTH ARLINGTON: PD warns of scammers posing as police departments

CLIFTON: Firefighter who inspired 9/11 NJ law will have to pay for insurance ‘gap’

Read or Share this story: https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/teaneck/2019/07/13/teaneck-nationwide-vigil-protest-immigration-camps/1705820001/