Never Again Action

Never Again Action is a Jewish political action organization in the United States that uses civil disobedience^[1] and nonviolent methods to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).^[2] The organization derives its name from the slogan 'never again' which is often used in reference to the Holocaust.^[3][4]

Never Again Action protest in Graham, North Carolina

History

Amateur video of 2019 Tisha B'Av protest in Maryland

On June 24, 2019, Serena Adlerstein made an informal statement on Facebook about organizing Jews to protest immigrant detention centers in the U.S.^[5] Her Facebook network was politically active and soon afterward protests were organized. On June 30, 2019, around 200 people protested at the Elizabeth Contract Detention Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey where police arrested 36 people for blocking exits.^[6] In Boston, On July 2, 2019, around 1000 people protested at the Suffolk County House of Corrections after marching from the New England Holocaust Memorial,^[7] 18 arrests were made and the state declined to prosecute.^[8] On the 4th of July parade in Philadelphia, 33 were arrested for protesting.^[9] In July 2019, the organization blocked the doors of the ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C.^[10] On July 15, around 100 protested outside the ICE office in Atlanta, Georgia resulting in two arrests.^[11] On the 2019 Tisha B'Av holiday, protests were held^[12] in more than 50 locations^[13] in cities including Washington, D.C., New York, Houston,^[14] Salt Lake City, Boston and Baltimore.^[15] In New York city, 40 protesters were arrested at an Amazon store for protesting the company's business ties with ICE.^[16][17]

Actions

Date	City	Target	Protesters	Arrests	Notes
6/30/19	Elizabeth, NJ	Elizabeth Contract Detention Center	200	36
7/2/19	Boston, MA	Suffolk County House of Corrections	1000	18	State declined to prosecute.^[8]
7/2/19	Central Falls, RI	Wyatt Detention Center	200 ^[18]	18
7/3/19	Los Angeles, CA	Theo Lacy Detention Center
7/4/19	Philadelphia, PA	ICE Field office		33	Blocked 4 July parade^[9]
7/5/19	San Francisco, CA	Nancy Pelosi's Office
7/5/19	Chicago, IL	Senator Dick Durbin's office
7/8/19	New York City	Palantir Office
7/9/19	Washington, DC	US Capitol
7/11/19	New York City	Amazon AWS conference
7/11/19	Buffalo, NY	ICE Field Office
7/12/19	Grand Rapids, MI	ICE Field Office
7/14/19	Concord, NH	NH Statehouse
7/15/19	Atlanta, Georgia	ICE Field office	100	2
7/16/19	Washington, DC	ICE Headquarters
7/19/19	Denver, CO	Federal Building
7/19/19	Portland, Maine	Longfellow Square
7/20/19	Pompano Beach, FL	Broward Transitional Center
7/21/19	Baltimore, MD	Johns Hopkins University Stage, Artscape
7/21/19	Houston, TX	Southwest Key Detention Center
7/23/19	Cleveland, OH	Geauga County Detention Center
7/25/19	Overland Park, KS	Rep. Sharice David's office
7/28/19	Williston, VT	ICE Data Center
7/30/19	Twin Cities, MN	ICE Field office
8/1/19	Milwaukee, WI	ICE Field Office			Mobilized outside of the political action organization; the group formalized its connection following the action.
8/2/19	Portland, OR	ICE Field Office
8/5/19	Los Angeles, CA	GEO Group West Coast Headquarters
8/6/19	St. Louis, MO	ICE Field office
8/8/19	Cincinnati, OH	Butler County Detention Center
8/8/19	Seattle, WA	ICE Field Office
8/11/19	New York, NY	Amazon Bookstore			Tisha B'av demonstrations
8/11/19	Baltimore, MD	Howard County Detention Center
8/12/19	Broward County, FL	GEO Group International Headquarters
8/12/19	Houston, TX	Southwest Key Detention Center
8/14/19	Central Falls, RI	Wyatt Detention Center			Prison Guard drove truck into crowd of protestors.^[19]
11/24/19	Graham, NC	Alamance County Detention Center	300^[20]	9

August 2019 truck attack

On August 14, 2019, several hundred protesters were organized outside of a parking lot by the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island, when an ICE employee drove his pickup truck into the protesters.^[21][22][23] The incident broke the leg and caused internal bleeding of a 64 year old protester.^[24] Immediately afterwards, ICE guards pepper sprayed the protesters and the guard who drove the truck was not detained.^[25] On August 15, 2019, the driver of the truck was placed on leave^[26] and he resigned the next day.^[27] The incident prompted an investigation by the Rhode Island Attorney General.^[28]

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Never Again Action.

• Official site

References

1. Yates, Jeff (2019-07-22). "Jewish "Never Again Action" Group Commits Civil Disobedience to Close Trump's Inhumane Refugee Camps". BTL. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
2. "Thousands of Jews protest ICE raids across U.S., 44 arrested in NYC". +972 Magazine. 2019-08-12. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
3. Ettachfini, Leila (2019-08-20). "The Jews Organizing Against ICE to Stop Concentration Camps". Vice. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
4. "A Jewish movement against ICE takes off by deploying its most famous mantra". Religion News Service. 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
5. Kuruvilla, Carol (2019-07-03). "Jewish Activists Are Protesting ICE Detention Centers Across The Country". HuffPost. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
6. MTV News Staff. "How A Facebook Post Launched A Movement To Shut Down Immigrant Detention Facilities". MTV News. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
7. "18 Activists Arrested During Citywide March Against ICE Detention Facilities". News. 2019-07-03. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
8. "DA Won't Prosecute 18 Arrested At Immigration Protest". News. 2019-07-03. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
9. "Protesters Calling For Closure Of U.S. Border Camps Arrested At Philadelphia Fourth Of July Parade". 2019-07-04. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
10. "Activists block doors of ICE headquarters in DC". Washington Examiner. 2019-07-16. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
11. Turley, Jeremy. "More than 100 protest outside Atlanta ICE field office". ajc. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
12. "Understanding US Immigration Policy", The Politics of Immigration in France, Britain and the United States, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, doi:10.1057/9781137047892.0013, ISBN 9781137047892
13. "American Jews Mark Tisha B'Av With anti-ICE 'Close the Camps' Protests". Haaretz. 2019-08-12. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
14. Gill, Julian (2019-08-13). "Multiple arrests reported at rally at Houston migrant shelter". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
15. Schucht, Eric (2019-08-14). "On Tisha B'Av, Jewish protesters rally in support of refugees and immigrants". Jewish Exponent. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
16. Sales, Ben (12 August 2019). "40 Jews Arrested In New York City During ICE Protest On Tisha B'Av". The Forward. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
17. "40 Jews arrested in New York City protesting Amazon's ties with ICE". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2019-08-12. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
18. "18 Arrested in Never Again protest of Wyatt's ICE role". 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
19. "A truck drove into ICE protesters outside a private prison. A guard was at the wheel". The Washington Post. 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
20. "Nine arrested demonstrators head up anti-ICE protest". 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
21. "Man in pick-up truck drives into group of ICE protesters in Rhode Island". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
22. Zhao, Christina; EDT, Matt Keeley On 8/15/19 at 2:05 AM (2019-08-15). "An correctional officer allegedly drove a truck into a group of Jewish peaceful protesters outside a detention center". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-08-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
23. Beauchamp, Zack (2019-08-15). "Trump's transparent attempt to manipulate American Jews". Vox. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
24. Andrade, Kevin G. "Protest group: Warren man, 64, suffered broken leg, internal bleeding after being hit by pickup truck at Wyatt Detention Facility". providencejournal.com. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
25. "Protestors Outside Rhode Island ICE Facility Are Hit by Truck — and Group Says Driver Was Officer". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
26. "Captain Placed On Leave After Wyatt ICE Protest Turns Violent". Providence, RI Patch. 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
27. "Corrections officer who drove truck through ICE protesters resigns". NBC News. 16 August 2019.
28. "Rhode Island ICE facility incident prompts AG investigation". Boston Herald. 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2019-08-15.