New Yorkers speak out against federal prison in Brooklyn

Brooklyn, NY – Organizers from the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a speakout in Sunset Park on Saturday, March 14, just blocks away from the Metropolitan Detention Center, where up to 200 immigrants are being held by federal agents. The event was part of the group’s recently-launched “ICE Out” campaign, continuing the momentum established at mass rallies earlier in the year.

The speak-out began on the corner of 36th Street and 4th Avenue, where members of the New York Alliance handed out hundreds of flyers, delivered fiery speeches, and spoke to passersby about the campaign to kick ICE and federal agents out of the five boroughs.

A nearby subway station meant there was a steady stream of residents and families to engage with, the vast majority of whom reacted positively to the campaign. Some chose to stay and help hand out flyers, while others gathered on the sidewalk to take up chants and listen to speeches about the deplorable conditions at the MDC, the relationship between immigration enforcement and imperialism, and federal police oppression.

For many passing by it was their first time learning about the federal detention complex.

“I lived here for years at this point, I had no idea that prison was right here in my backyard,” Raqael Vasquez, a resident of Sunset Park, told one organizer. “That’s actually crazy. Seriously.”

After spending some time by the subway station, organizers moved to Industry City, a shopping complex on the same avenue as the MDC. Though the crowd here was composed mostly of young professionals and tourists as opposed to residents of Sunset Park, many onlookers took flyers and raised fists in solidarity. Drivers passing from the Gowanus Expressway underpass likewise honked in unity with the organizers’ message, which was audible from two blocks away.

Though the MDC is situated in an inaccessible and industrial corner of Brooklyn, the speakout drew attendees from all over the city, some of whom had learned of the New York Alliance from previous ICE Out campaign events. People from as far away as Staten Island and Bay Ridge gave up their Saturday afternoons to take part in the speakout, indicating the popularity of the campaign, and the frustration from New Yorkers that such a place is, indeed, operating in their backyard.

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