Never Again Is Now: Text “NEVER” to 83224

For the second time in a week, a building in Washington, D.C., was shut down by people protesting inhumane conditions in immigrant detention camps. #CatholicsAgainstICE took over the Russell Senate Building today, carrying photos of migrant children who have died in U.S. custody. A group of activists formed a human cross with their bodies on the floor. Seventy people were arrested by the Capitol Police, including nuns and monks.

The arrestees included 90-year-old Sister Pat Murphy. Marissa J. Lang of the Washington Post reported that Sister Pat works with immigrants and refugees in Chicago, and has been holding a weekly vigil outside ICE there for 13 years (a reminder that this is not a new problem, but an escalation of a continuing problem). The nun said treatment of migrants should outrage people of all faith.

This action came two days after the one I was at, during which #JewsAgainstIce and immigrant-rights organization Movimiento Cosecha shut down ICE headquarters. Ten people were arrested at that protest.

While the Catholic protestors were in D.C., #JewsAgainstIce were in Denver to hold Colorado senator Cory Gardner accountable for his complicity, and to stand in solidarity with immigrants. The group reported on Twitter that someone drove by the rally and yelled “6 million more!” — emboldened, perhaps, by the full-on fascist rally that Trump held last night in North Carolina.

Well, the racists and anti-Semites (and all the other people who are wastes of perfectly good internal organs) can yell, but the fight against them is spreading all over the country. If you’ve ever wondered what you would have done in pre-Holocaust Europe, it’s time to put your values to the test. Find an action close to you by texting the word NEVER to 83224. And, of course, you don’t have to be Jewish or Catholic to do join. You just have to believe in human rights.

Other resources:

• NeverAgainAction.com
• Never Again Action on Twitter