One week ago, Congress voted in favor of a funding package that included $144.85 million to the Department of Defense for jails — most likely tent camps — $209 million to ICE, more than a billion to Customs Border and Protection, and $155 million for US Marshals. Only four Democratic members of the House — Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib, and Pressley voted against it. 

The situation at the border and in the concentration camps across the U.S. is a dire crisis, with families separated, children in cages, and people living in inhumane conditions.

This Friday, July 12th, join CODEPINK and our partner orgs for Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Concentration Camps, bringing thousands of people to protest the inhumane conditions faced by migrants. More than 600 events will take place worldwide to call for the concentration camps to be closed.

Click here to find the closest event to you. If you can’t attend this Friday, but want to have an impact in your community sign up here to Divest from the War Machine. 

Since 1994, the United States has been implementing a border militarization policy called “Prevention Through Deterrence,” which seals migrant crossing routes at U.S.-Mexico border towns and cities, intentionally leaving the dangerous desert as the only crossing area — what led to the deaths of migrants Oscar Alberto Martínez and his 23-month-old daughter, Angie Valeria, in the Rio Grande River while on their journey from El Salvador to the United States. The companies involved in the U.S. border militarization and the concentration camps include General Dynamics, Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems, and more. They are profiting off of an immigration policy that is shameful and racist. It’s time to divest! 

This Friday we will be in El Paso, Texas, where migrants are housed without running water; in LA at the Metropolitan Detention Center; in Washington, DC, to demand action from Congress; in San Diego, near the point of entry site from Tijuana; in Homestead, FL, at a migrant child detention facility perpetrating mass abuse and neglect; in New York City at Foley Square; and many more cities across the world. 

Join CODEPINK at the Lights for Liberty vigil in your city and connect with our Divest from the War Machine campaign to remove funding to giants of death who profit from U.S. policies that create refugees and then punish those who seek sanctuary. 

We must close the camps! 
Ann, Ariel, Carley, Clara, Jodie, Kelli, Lily, Maya, Mark, Medea, Megan, Nancy, Paki, Ryan, Sarah, Teri, Tighe, Umama, Ursula, and Zena