On Friday evening, Indivisible Martha’s Vineyard, in partnership with the national organization Lights for Liberty, will host a vigil to “End Human Concentration Camps.” The event will take place at 8:15 p.m. in Cannonball Park in Edgartown. The purpose of the vigil is to show solidarity with migrants suffering what some have called human rights abuses at U.S./Mexico border detention centers.
Edgartown’s event is one of approximately 760 vigils occurring on the same day in cities across five continents organized by Lights for Liberty, an organization dedicated to promoting freedom for all people.
The event is co-sponsored by Indivisible Martha’s Vineyard, a political action group spearheaded by year-round resident Carla Cooper. Cooper founded the Vineyard chapter of the liberal-leaning group in January 2017 in response to the change in federal administration.
Attendees should not expect a “flag-waving, sign-holding” protest rally against “this national atrocity,” said Cooper, but rather, a candlelight vigil to recognize the hardships that asylum-seekers are facing.
Holding a vigil on Martha’s Vineyard was important because, “we need to be visible even in remote places. Because we don’t live in a bubble anymore,” Cooper said. “The more voices and people that are involved in this, the bigger the impact.”
Reports from national media outlets have called the detention centers “squalid,” “overcrowded,” and “dangerous.”
As reported by The New York Times, a recent lawsuit against the Trump administration called into question the state of a particular center located in Clint, Texas. A Justice Department lawyer fought back against a 1997 legal settlement, arguing that amenities such as soap and toothbrushes should not be mandatory. All three judges on the case retaliated, and argued that these items fell under the statute of “safe and sanitary” conditions for migrants in temporary holding.
The vigil will begin with remarks from Cooper about the current state of the border crisis, followed by poetry, song, and prayer from a St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church rector. The event will conclude with candle lighting and a collective moment of silence.
The event will be tracked on social media internationally with the hashtag #dontlookaway.
What a shame that this Vineyard chapter of the liberal-leaning group is more worried about the illegals than the literally thousands of American homeless in Los Angles and several others liberal run cities that we see on TV nightly!
I must disagree with her comment “we don’t live in a bubble anymore”, not sure who the we is?
So, are you saying that US-born people cannot compete with someone from another country and culture who also are homeless when they arrive?
so, it’s not a “manufactured crisis” like we were told by Pelosi and Shumer?
And when they go home and discover a family has moved into their home do you think they’ll call the police??
Poorly adopted border security procedures for such important issues as asylum are the root cause. No other country allows those requesting that status into their country without a proper vetting. The overcrowding of the Border Patrol facilities is not an intended outcome but the result of not having the training, staff, supplies or accommodations for the huge influx these bad laws have spawned. The candle light vigil is an appropriate way to show concern for those caught in the aftermath of bad planning and bad laws.
Please explain how you Vett someone who has not applied for asylum yet? ANd the rules require asylum to be applied for inside the country. Removing the assistance we were providing to help the countries involved is the issues. Note how many other successful countries in the Americas are not having mass exodus to the USA.
Not hearing about many Costa Rican or Panamanian or many others seeking asylum. Now, who pulled that assistance and funding from the 3 principle countries where people are leaving en masse.
The rules “allow” asylum application they don’t demand it. That’s the problem. There is no other country in our hemisphere that allows that action – fact. Try dropping in to Mexico or Canada and declaring you need asylum – you go to jail.
Is this a joke? Do any of these clueless people actually have any idea what they are talking about? Concentration camps? These facilities are nicer than most of the town government buildings on the island.
VP Pence said camp conditions were unacceptablec when he visited July 13.
760 vigils for a “manufactured “ crisis seems like overkill.
I also like how Cooper’s group is “liberal leaning” as opposed to “far-left”.
This would have to be the first time in history anyone WILLINGLY climbed a fence and broke the law to get INTO a “concentration camp.”
How History describes the third of Germany that looked the other way in the 1930’s: Nazis.
The ignorance of the above comments is astounding. Please turn off Fox News propaganda and read a newspaper. The comment about climbing over a barbed wire fence into a concentration camp is the height of stupidity. These are refugees legally seeking asylum status. They are presenting themselves to border patrol. You are conflating refugees with migrant workers. Please educate yourselves, its embarrassing to read such nonsense. And this is not a “left wing” issue. I hadnt realized that conservatives had abandoned human rights advocacy. But there it is.
Just because you live in a s-hole country does not qualify you for ‘refugee’ status. We are a country of laws, and if you want to join, then you ABIDE by the laws. My immigrant friends who came here LEGALLY such as the actual REAL refugee European immigrants after WW2 who waited in line 14 years to get in LEGALLY are disgusted by this sort of political sham. They came here from Italy, asked for NOTHING other than freedom, and worked and contributed to the country as legal law abiding citizens. They didn’t SNEAK IN illegally and expect a handout and NEVER got free medical care, housing, or welfare. They didn’t come here and drop a ”anchor” baby in order to mooch off the hard working citizens of the country who pay taxes. The fake news of MSDNC aka MSNBC and CNN has been exposed as a propaganda machine for the left with their BS catch phrases of ‘manufactured crisís” or ”concentration camp” (yes in the real world NOBODY tries to get in…but you phonies just want incendiary words in order to create chaos) This is all part of the lamestream media meltdown since they no longer control the ”narrative”. Despite their best efforts to mislead the public with their fake polls giving Hillary 90 percent+ chance of winning the election in order to dissuade Trump voters from going to the polls, smart americans weren’t fooled by their sham polls and ”bothered to vote anyway”. Get over it. you lost the election. And keep up with the fake news narrative please so you’ll lose again in 2020. And lets call these ILLEGAL aliens what they are. Undocumented Democrats. The ignorance you refer to is displayed by the left on a daily basis and by the comments of their Kool-Aid drinkers.
Be Best, at it again.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. In the case of some, it’s also tragic. To those more passionate than informed, Trump won the popular vote. Those more passionate than educated, being the Electoral College, overrode the expressed interest of the Democratic process. Yes, “We are a country of laws,” as above stated by someone. One could be tempted to present facts that, Immigration detention in the United States began in the 1890s at Ellis Island. It was used as a permanent holding facility for foreign nationals throughout the Second World War, but fell into disuse in the 1950s. In the 1980s,” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_detention_in_the_United_States.) This would be a waste of time. Some will forever be more hostile than knowledgeable. Hostility is easy. Without a scapegoat, without someone who claims he can get away with murder, he will.
not new here– in case you aren’t seeing it, trump is turning this country into a s-hole . I agree with you– we are a country of laws– when someone gets to our border and applies for asylum, they ARE following the law. When the trumpstapo throw them into a concentration camp, they are NOT following the law.
And, please, the liberals are quite over losing the election. It seems apparent the conservatives are not willing to accept responsibility for the most corrupt regime in our history. It seems almost every story here has some one telling liberals to get over it.. You voted for him, he’s a disaster— you own it– quit displacing about liberals crying about a lost election…Control your pig. We are voicing our constitutional right and responsibility to stand up and resist tyranny.
The spell-checking demon strikes again. Sigh.
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