Immigration justice week of action set to begin on Human Rights Day

WASHINGTON, DC (December 8, 2023) From December 10th – International Human Rights Day – through December 18th – International Migrants Day – protests, vigils, and events will take place across the country. The actions will lift up the demand for human rights for migrants and celebrate the connectedness and solidarity of immigrants and allies in the U.S. and around the world.

The week of action is organized by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization that has been working on immigration issues for over a century. Events are taking place in Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, and at the U.S.-Mexico border. Full events list is available here.

“This Human Rights Day, like every other day, thousands of immigrants are jailed in detention centers, trapped at the border, or forced to suffer uncertainty and hardship while Congress and the Biden administration continue to choose political posturing over real solutions,” said Amy Gottlieb, U.S. Migration Director for the American Friends Service Committee. “But even in these dark times we take solace in the light and love within our communities. We celebrate our networks of solidarity and mutual aid and our many small victories: stopping deportations, changing campus policies, or mitigating the harms of immigration enforcement.”

The actions showcase a wide variety of steps that political leaders can take to support the human and civil rights of all people regardless of their immigration status. At the U.S.-Mexico border, faith communities on both sides of the wall are hosting the 30th annual Posada, honoring the nativity story and its connection to the plight of all migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. A similar event will take place in Colorado.

 In Florida, organizers are calling for expanded access to work permits. In New Hampshire they will hold a candlelight vigil in solidarity with immigrants held in detention at the Strafford County Jail. In New Jersey, they will demand the closure of the Elizabeth Detention Center, bearing witness to the 30 years of human rights abuses there. 

AFSC is also hosting a webinar, “From Palestine to Mexico: How Palestine and the US Immigrant Industrial Complex Are Connected.” For more details and complete event listings, visit: https://afsc.org/human-rights-december-2023-week-action.

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The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions.