Call for their release from Eloy Detention Center
CHICAGO--On Monday August 5th at 11AM, University of Illinois at Chicago faculty, administrators, graduate and undergraduate students will announce their support for UIC student, Lulu Martinez, who is currently being held at Eloy Detention Center in Arizona at the Latino Cultural Center at UIC. Lulu Martinez, one of the nine “Dreamers” in detention, intends to continue her studies upon her return.
WHAT: Faculty members of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) will release a letter of support for the 'Dream 9'. The letter calls on President Obama and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Principal Legal Adviser Peter Vincent to release the 'Dream 9' from Eloy Detention Center. Senator Dick Durbin and Representative Danny Davis are also copied on the letter. The Dream 9 and other detainees have engaged in a hunger strike and two are currently in solitary confinement. Across the country, hundreds have shown their support through solidarity hunger strikes.
Locally, Representative Luis Gutierrez has released a letter of support for the Dream 9 and the Chicago City Council referenced the Dream 9 in a recent resolution calling for a moratorium on deportations.
“Today, young people who may have spent a few months or a few years in their birth country but who have grown up, gone to school, and worked in the United States for 15 or 20 years, are deemed ‘outsiders.’ This may be the law but it is also wrong and unjust. For this reason, we stand with the Dream 9 who have been jailed because of their struggle on behalf of human rights and citizenship rights for immigrants. As University Professors and Administrators, we are invested in the lives and well being of young people. It is our life’s work.”
The full text can be downloaded here: [UIC Faculty & Admin Letter of Support]
The university has been a bedrock of support for the Dream 9. Last week, the Graduate Employees Organization at UIC also issued a statement of support, and the UIC Cultural Center has dedicated some of its art installation space to art inspired by the Bring Them Home campaign.
WHO: Mother of Lulu Martinez, UIC Faculty, UIC Graduate Employee Organization, UIC students and community supporters.
WHERE: UIC LATINO CULTURAL CENTER
803 S. Morgan St., Lecture Center B2