For Immediate Release
Tuesday, July 10th, at 1:00 pm
Dozens of immigrant rights activists are Occupying the Amazon Store in NYC, demanding they stop selling their technology to ICE
Immigrant rights organizers have shut down and Amazon Store in New York City to demand that Amazon stop selling ICE technology that is being used to detain and deport immigrant families. They are calling for national day of action against ICE on July 31 to show that the American public refuses to cooperate with ICE and the separation of immigrant families.
New York, NY - Immigrants rights activists are currently occupying the Columbus Circle Amazon store. They store has been closed for over an hour after activists blocked the doors and demanded Amazon put immigrant families over profits and stop selling their technology to firms that work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
This action follows the lead of Amazon employees who are refusing “contribute to tools that violate human rights” and are calling for the termination of Amazon’s contracts with firms that work with ICE. In an open letter, Amazon employees reference how IBM’s technology was “employed in the 1940s to help Hitler” and say they must act before it is too late.
“I cannot be a bystander as Amazon facilitates the criminalization of my immigrant community,” said Cata Santiago, an organizer with Cosecha. “I won’t be complicit as Amazon upholds the ICE deportation machine. It is our moral duty to stop cooperating with ICE and demand the institutions we are part of do the same.”
ICE relies on government institutions and companies to function day in and day out. Mayors and county commissioners sign contracts with ICE allowing them to use jails to detain families. Companies like Amazon sell their technology to ICE. Airlines transport detainees across the country. Local departments of labor, school districts, DMVs, and hospital share data with ICE. These institutions are complicit in the persecution of undocumented people. Cosecha is launching a nationwide campaign demanding all institutions and companies stop doing business with ICE and make it known that #WeWontBeComplicit with the ICE deportation machine.
“It is our moral duty to demand that our local government agencies, counties, and mayors, and companies all stop doing business with ICE and stop enabling ICE’s persecution of immigrants. We can make it much harder for ICE to function. We all have a role to play,” said Cata Santiago.
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Cosecha is a nonviolent movement fighting for the permanent protection, dignity and respect of all immigrants in the US. Cosecha is planning a series of actions and campaigns targeting companies like Amazon that do business with ICE, as well as city and county officials who allow ICE to use their facilities and government agencies that share data with ICE. Actions will be coordinated under the banner #WeWontBeComplicit and there will be a national day of action on July 31st, 2018.