On August 16th, Ben and Ashley accepted a plea bargain at their court appearance for the civil disobedience they took part in on June 4th to block the entrance gates of the north Houston immigration jail for three hours. Upon pleading guilty to Criminal Trespassing, a class B misdemeanor, they were given time served and a $100 fine. With court costs, they have to pay $326 each ($752 total) and still owe the lawyer $4000. They accepted this plea bargain so that we could return to the front lines of the struggle as soon as possible, and return their energies to where they feel it does the most good - in the streets.
We feel that this plea agreement is an effort by Harris County and most likely the Corrections Corporation of America to sweep this issue under the rug. We have no intention of letting this happen. The struggle against the unjust policies of immigrant detention enforced by the federal government and private companies is becoming more widespread and coordinated throughout Texas and the United States.
This summer has seen an escalation of injustices in this system: On July 20th Victoria Arellano died in the San Pedro California Detention Facility after being deprived of medication for treatment of AIDS, In the Del Rio, TX detention facility, run by GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut), 2 detainees have died this July and 2 hospitalized due to a mysterious illness. On August 9th in an El Paso facility a pregant woman died after complaining for more than a week of a pain in her leg. At the Willacy County detention center (run by Corrections Corporation of America) in South Texas dozens of detainees have been fed food with maggots this month. We will not let these extreme injustices pass without comment, we will not let the terror of immigrant communities by Government agencies and predatory corporations pass without resistance.
Our victory in the courtroom is a signal that the injustices taking place behind the walls of these internment facilities are so grave, that CCA would prefer to keep it silent avoiding public prosecution of those of us with the priveledge of US citizenship who are dedicated to making stop, as well as by deporting and detaining immigrants who resist.
Houston Sin Fronteras will continue the campaign against the Corrections Corporation of America and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We will continue to struggle against the restrictions placed on freedom of movement. We have seen direct action work successfully to hinder the operation of the machinery of repression and encourage others to escalate our resistance to the immigrant detention system and prison industrial complex and physically shut it down!
We need your help!!! By charging Ben and Ashley with felonies early on we incurred large legal costs in getting a lawyer to fight these charges. We still need to raise $4,000 in legal fees. We have a benefit garage sale upcoming on September 1st at 1430 Studewood starting at 7am.
We also have union made t-shirts for sale with awesome hand drawn artwork. To get one, specify size and send money as designated below. (http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2007/08/60894.php)
We need folks to open up their wallets, and where possible, organize benefits and send donations via paypal to seditioncollective@yahoo.com and via mail (send blank check, or well concealed cash) to:
Houston Sin Fronteras Defense Committee
c/o Houston ABC
PO Box 667164
Houston, TX, 77266
We will also be protesting outside of the Houston Processing Center (5520 Greens Road) on Labor Day September 3rd at 9am, to keep pressure on Corrections Corporation of America and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, demanding freedom for all the detainees.
Please keep track of what we're up to at:
http://myspace.com/houstonsinfronteras
and feel free to contact Houstonsinfronteras[at]Riseup.net if you can help support us or would like to get involved in Houston with the struggle for freedom of movement.
While we have won this small victory in the courtroom, the real criminals are still free - those who profit from the kidnapping, imprisonment and exploitation of millions of migrants.
Until all people are free, the struggle continues!
