ICE Protests

Indivisible, a nationwide grassroots organization, and leadership from the Goshen City Democrats held a protest on June 14th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. under the C.R. 17 overpass on U.S. 33. Their purpose was to give voters a way to express their opposition to authoritarianism and support of Democracy.  

The point of the demonstration was to draw attention to the fact that ICE detains three to five immigrants every day at the Elkhart County Corrections Center. Sixty-five protesters sang and chanted in support of immigrants and in opposition to ICE. Reactions from passersby were overwhelmingly positive!  Drivers rewarded the protesters with thumbs up and horn honks in favor of their efforts.  

The original number of detentions was provided by an employee of the jail. The sheriff’s department has responded that they need an additional two weeks to provide current numbers of ICE detainers issued and resulting detentions for the last eighteen months.

The protest also brought attention to the issue of DHS not reimbursing the state of Indiana for using the Miami Correctional Facility as a detention center. That issue is being addressed in that DHS is reimbursing Indiana; however, they remain two months delayed in those payments.

Author: Marilyn Torres

Editors: Ron Altenhof and Kyle Richardson