Healing Justice joined the Disappeared in America Freedom Vigils outside the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach on Sunday, December 21nd and Thursday, December 25th to stand in peaceful solidarity with immigrants and demand an end to the cruel and authoritarian tactics being used against our communities. Together, we lifted up stories, music, and prayer as we called for an end to the inhumane detention of our neighbors and for the constitutional rights and protections due to all people. Thank you Jon G. for sharing your video.
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Our minister, Rev. Edith A. Love spoke about her experience:
Last Sunday afternoon, before our Solstice ritual, I joined others at a vigil for those who are being unjustly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Broward county. We stood in front of the facility where people are being held, holding signs and candles, the flames flickering as the wind blew. People drove by, honking their support.
We had several speakers, and someone led us in singing. And then, to our surprise, a large bus drove out of the gates. The windows were heavily darkened, so that we could not see any of the human beings inside. We drew closer, holding up our signs and our candles, so those imprisoned could see our support. One woman in the crowd raised her fist in solidarity. I felt tears begin to rise within myself, knowing that moving people around from one barred detention center to the next is a deliberate tactic, used to cut people off from any support they might otherwise receive. The families don’t know where their loved ones are, or even if they are still alive….the uncertainty is brutal.
These are our neighbors, they live in South Florida just like we do. They buy food at the same stores. Their children are in our schools. Like you and I, they just want to be able to live their lives in peace. And yet, in our current reality, immigrants are hunted.
Masked men, agents of the government, are snatching people up. This isn’t what Jesus stood for. Jesus was a radical who warned of the evils of unchecked power. If you look at the gospels, Jesus always, always, always sided with people who were marginalized, not the system that was oppressing them.
As Unitarian Universalists, we hold love at the center of our values. Love drives us in everything we do. And because we also hold sacred our seventh principle, the interdependent web of life, of which we are all a part, this matters, deeply. Our neighbors who are immigrants make this country a better place. As Unitarian Universalists, we hold our values dear, and we express those values by taking action. One way to do that is to support our immigrant siblings who are under attack. Whether that might be in prayer, protest, funding the opposition, feeding them, or vocalizing your support to lawmakers, there is a place for you in this movement for justice.
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CBS Miami reported
About two dozen protesters gathered outside the Broward Transitional Center immigration detention facility on Christmas Day. Holding a vigil under the slogan, “Injustice doesn’t take a holiday. Neither does resistance,” the demonstrators said they came together to call attention to what they describe as a nationwide crackdown on immigration enforcement and to stand in solidarity with people being held inside. Organized by three South Florida groups — Joyful Resistance, Resist Wilton Manors and Wilton Manors Indivisible — the vigil lasted about an hour.
Several protesters said they were speaking out for immigrants taken into custody during routine appointments or enforcement actions, arguing that detainees deserve due process and shouldn’t be “grabbed” from jobs or courthouses. Deputies with the Deerfield Beach Sheriff’s Office told the group they had the right to protest as long as they didn’t obstruct traffic, and organizers said they plan to return in two weeks.