CONTACT
Lucia Sandoval
lucia@puenteaz.org
858-232-2301
Joshua Garner
jgarner@advancemntproject.org
(202) 728-9557 (O)
(240) 326-3874 (M)
PHOENIX, AZ—Puente Human Rights Movement will lead a coalition of civil rights and immigrant advocacy organizations calling for the closure of ICE detention facilities throughout the state during a migration tribunal event on Saturday, Oct. 19 at its headquarters. During the event, the organization will release its new report, “Arizona’s Carceral Crisis: The Human Cost of Being Confined,“ in collaboration with Advancement Project National Office detailing the inhumane conditions inside an ICE detention facility outside of Phoenix.
The event will feature testimony from nearly a dozen formerly detained individuals and family members whose loved ones have died while in ICE facilities or state-run prisons. These individuals will join with advocates in calling on the closure of immigrant detention facilities in the state in addition to calling for state lawmakers to work to curtail the state’s booming mass incarceration system.
Since 2000, Arizona’s prison population has grown by 15,000 people, and today has the fourth highest imprisonment rate in the country, according to the report. Black, Latinx, and Native communities are directly and disproportionately impacted by this mass incarceration crisis, and this report highlights this discrepancy outlining policies and laws that are the dragnet into immigration detention. In 2019, Arizona will spend $1.09 billion on prisons—more than child safety, economic security, and education.
WHAT:
Puente’s Tribunal: The State of Incarceration
WHEN:
Saturday, October 19, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
MEDIA/ON-CAMERA INTERVIEWS: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
WHERE:
Puente Human Rights Movement Headquarters
1937 W Adams St, Phoenix, AZ 85009
WHO:
Councilman Carlos Garcia, Phoenix City Council, Co-founder, Puente Human Rights Movement
Losmin Jimenez, Project Director & Senior Attorney, Immigrant Justice, Advancement Project National Office
No More Deaths
The Justice Project
U.S. Human Rights Network
Mijente
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Puente Human Rights Movement is a grassroots migrant justice organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. It develops, educates, and empowers migrant communities to protect and defend themselves and their families to enhance the quality of life of community members.
Advancement Project National Office is a multi-racial civil rights organization. Founded by a team of veteran civil rights lawyers in 1999, Advancement Project was created to develop and inspire community-based solutions based on the same high quality legal analysis and public education campaigns that produced the landmark civil rights victories of earlier eras.