Statement on Behalf of Tsuru for Solidarity
May 20, 2020
For Immediate Release
Contacts:
David Inoue, JACL Executive Director, 202-607-7273 dinoue@jacl.org
Sarah Baker, JACL VP Public Affairs, sbaker@jacl.org
Kathy Kojimoto, Tsuru for Solidarity, 415-572-3255 kkojimoto@hotmail.com
From today’s Tsuru for Solidarity Livestream:
“I am here today representing Tsuru for Solidarity, a direct action project of Japanese American social justice advocates working to end detention sites and support front-line immigrant and refugee communities that are being targeted by racist, inhumane immigration policies. We stand on the moral authority of Japanese Americans who suffered great injustices in U.S. concentration camps during WWII.
We are here today in support of the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), Rapid Defense Network, and ALDEA-The People’s Justice Center who have filed the O.M.G. v. Wolf case in the US District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to release all families being held in the Family Residential Centers on an emergency basis due to the imminent risk of a COVID-19 outbreak. All three family detention facilities, Berks, Karnes, and Dilley have failed to take adequate measures to protect detained families from COVID-19, and there is no justification for risking these families’ health and safety.
We are appalled by the recently implemented efforts by ICE to bypass requirements of the Flores Settlement and other health and safety requirements by imposing a questionnaire to be signed by detained parents, to be detained indefinitely with their child, or agree to have their child be separated from them and transferred to a “sponsor”.
Over 78 years ago, 120,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly detained and incarcerated under mass living conditions. We suffered repeated incidences of contagious diseases, separation of families, and were forced to sign a double-binding questionnaire to determine who might or might not be released. We are shocked and disheartened to hear that our mass incarceration, later deemed a violation of our constitutional and human rights, is being repeated again.
We urge Judge James Boasberg who will be hearing the case today to affirm the lessons learned from the historic tragedy of the Japanese American mass incarceration experience and release all families being held in the Family Residential Centers due to imminent risk of a COVID-19 outbreak. It is the just and humane decision to make.”
– David Inoue, JACL Executive Director & Tsuru for Solidarity Steering Committee Member
To watch the recorded stream, click here. For more information about Tsuru for Solidarity and Tsuru Rising! Virtual Protest to Close the Camps June 6-7, please visit http://tsuruforsolidarity.org
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The Japanese American Citizens League is a national organization whose ongoing mission is to secure and maintain the civil rights of Japanese Americans and all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry. The leaders and members of the JACL also work to promote cultural, educational and social values and preserve the heritage and legacy of the Japanese American community.
