STATEMENT: Mississippi raid is state-sanctioned violence, attack on communities of color

Advancement Project National Office is on the ground in Mississippi organizing against this attack

WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, August 7, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted the largest raid in U.S. history in Morton, MS.Advancement Project National Office, a multi-racial civil rights organization, released the following statement:

“As our nation is reeling from the shootings in El Paso, Texas, and in Dayton, Ohio, more than 600 ICE agents descended on a poultry processing plant in Morton, Mississippi conducting the largest ever workplace ICE raid in U.S. history, arresting 680 immigrants, leaving hundreds of children without parents and stranded after the first day of school. We are currently on the ground in Morton to provide support to the families impacted by this egregious attack and organize the various communities to demand families are reunited.

“Advancement Project National Office condemns these attacks on immigrant communities and communities of color as a whole. We condemn state-sanctioned violence in the form of raids that criminalize immigrants, destroy families and inflict toxic stress and long-term psychological harm on immigrant communities in Mississippi and around the country.

“We demand a moratorium on all raids, for all charges to be dropped against immigrants who were arrested through this cruel raid and for families to be reunited immediately.”

Advancement Project 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.