[ [link removed] ]Protect Incarcerated Loved Ones SMALL
Join us in fighting for those whose voices we can’t hear!
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Hi Friend,
We are in a crisis on multiple fronts right now -- and we need you, and
your voice, now more than ever. One such crisis that’s now at a breaking
point with COVID-19 is our mass incarceration rate — the highest in the
world -- and crowded detention facilities in which we have totally
inadequate health protections. This puts moms, dads, families, children,
communities, and workers at undue risk.
[ [link removed] ]There’s no time to waste. News reports are already showing this is an
emergency. Tell governors, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE,
mayors, and sheriffs not to leave anyone behind and take immediate
COVID-19 action at prisons, jails, and immigrant detention centers.
This is no small crisis. Every year in America, millions of children
experience the trauma of being separated from their parents due to mass
incarceration, which has 2.3 million people behind bars. In fact, on any
given day, 600,000 people are held pretrial in jails mostly because they
don’t have enough money to be home with their families. [1,2] This
criminalization of poverty further hurts families economically,
emotionally, and physically. Moreover, 38,000 people are currently being
held in ICE detention centers. [3]
The spread of COVID-19 is a national emergency that threatens potentially
millions of lives. While everyone is at risk, we have a moral obligation
to ensure that our most vulnerable—the elderly, the sick, those without
medical care, and those unable to protect themselves from the virus—get
the help that they need.
[ [link removed] ]The time to act is NOW! Tell governors, the Department of Homeland
Security, ICE, mayors, and sheriffs not to leave anyone behind and take
immediate COVID-19 action at prisons, jails, and immigrant detention
centers.
Correctional facilities, including jails, and immigrant detention centers,
represent the perfect breeding ground for COVID-19. Each day, people are
booked into and released from jail facilities, while guards, vendors, and
other jail staff cycle in and out. [4] This massive turnover is
exacerbated by the fact that more than half of jailed people only remain
incarcerated for a few days, resulting in a weekly turnover of 54% of jail
populations. [5,6] Worse, the enclosed nature of jails, prisons, and
immigrant detention facilities, as well as the difficulties of maintaining
proper hygiene inside facilities, mean that COVID-19 will likely spread
like wildfire once introduced. [ [link removed] ]
Many prisons and detention centers are overcrowded – some to the point of
crisis. Access to clean water and showers is limited. Many people are
forced to share a single bathroom. Hand sanitizer is often banned and, in
many cases, handcuffs prevent people from covering their mouths when they
cough. [ [link removed] ] Moreover, the prison population is more likely to have chronic
health conditions that render them particularly vulnerable to both
infection and serious medical complications. All of these conditions
effectively create a virus tinderbox that threatens not only incarcerated
individuals and correctional employees, but also their families and
communities at large.
[ [link removed] ]Mass incarceration must end! Tell the Department of Homeland Security,
ICE, governors, mayors, and sheriffs not to leave anyone behind and take
immediate COVID-19 action at prisons, jails, and immigrant detention
centers.
Before an outbreak occurs, people who do not pose a risk to public safety
should be released from prisons, jails, and detention centers. People who
test positive for COVID-19 should be immediately released to a medical
care facility, away from the rest of the incarcerated population-- not
held within the prison, jail, or detention center. The people who remain
confined need access to adequate medical care and prevention supplies free
of charge, and to be able to contact their loved ones.
MomsRising is sending a letter to every governor, ICE, and DHS with the
following recommendations:
* Using all available powers, including the powers of clemency,
furlough, parole and compassionate release, dramatically reduce the
prison and/or jail populations. Release everyone who isn’t a risk to
public safety.
* Working with local officials, advocate the maximum reduction in jail
admissions.
* Working with local officials, advocate that local officials release
the vast majority of individuals who are currently incarcerated in
jails.
* For those individuals who are released on probation and parole, modify
supervision practices so as to support family bonds and health-related
exigencies.
* For those individuals who remain incarcerated, ensure proper hygiene
and access to medical care.
* For those individuals who remain incarcerated, facilitate
communications home.
* For everyone who has incurred debt and/or debt-related penalties, end
the financial hardship associated with these debts and penalties.
* For immigrants in detention, we urge the Department of Homeland
Security and ICE to take immediate action to suspend ALL immigration
enforcement activities and operations --DHS must suspend deportations,
immigration arrests, mass raids, detentions and enforcement in
sensitive locations, provide Free COVID-19 testing, treatment, and
services for ALL, regardless of immigration status, and guarantee safe
conditions and provide healthcare, testing and support to protect
those in detention and prisons.
Everyone is at risk, and we have a moral obligation to ensure that our
most vulnerable--the elderly, the sick, those without medical care, and
those unable to protect themselves from the virus--get the help that they
need.
[7] Join us in fighting for those whose voices we can’t hear!
~ Monifa, Xochitl, Linda, Donna, Kristin, Gloria, Anita and the entire
MomsRising / MamásConPoder team
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