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GUESTS: Anibal Lucas, Director, and Renee Moreno, Vice President, of the Organization of Maya K’Ishe, Adrian Alvarez and Everardo Molina of the Comite de Trabajadores en Resistencia

In the early morning hours of March 6th, hundreds of Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents raided a leather factory in New Bedford, Massachusetts. 361 employees, most of whom were women, were arrested in the sweep. The majority of those arrested were expeditiously booked and flown to detention facilities in Texas. Immigration rights activists have condemned the March 6th ICE raids saying that it has triggered a humanitarian crisis. Immigrant families were ripped apart by the raids as hundreds of children, many of whom are U.S. citizens, became separated from their primary caregivers. The raid has also economically devastated families that depended on the income of workers arrested and detained. Humanitarian relief efforts in New Bedford, Massachusetts have been hampered by the widespread fears that have spread since the raid. Outrage over the immigration sweep has even reached Congress as Senator Kennedy criticized the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency by saying they, “performed disgracefully.” The majority of those arrested are Guatemalan, Salvadoran or Honduran.

Donations can be made to the “Michael Bianco Disaster Fund,” C/o Sovereign Bank, 128 Union St, New Bedford, MA 02746.

For more information, email mayakichee@juno.com, or call 508-994-7396/508-264-0892