‘Every arrest that ICE has made is a political one’: How immigrant rights activists are fighting attacks on the Palestine movement

 

“This is about Palestine and this is not about Palestine,” said New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice director Amy Torres at a recent rally in support of Mahmoud Khalil. “This is about this administration. . . going after every single one of us.”

While political prisoner and Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil remains in ICE detention in Louisiana, his lawyers are fighting for his freedom in New Jersey. On Friday, March 28 they were in Newark to argue for Khalil’s upcoming immigration hearing to take place in New Jersey, rather than Louisiana where a judge is more likely to go along with the Trump administration’s political persecution of Khalil.

While Khalil’s legal team advocated for him in the district courthouse, hundreds of supporters rallied outside chanting, “We want justice, you say how? Release Mahmoud right now!” and “Up up with liberation, down down with occupation!” While Newark has seen plenty of pro-Palestine protests since the liberation struggle drew national attention in the aftermath of October 7, they have rarely drawn the numbers that the rally to free Mahmoud Khalil did.

The turnout was, in part, bolstered by the presence of immigrant rights organizations which have for years been leading a dynamic movement against ICE detention in New Jersey. Throughout the crowd, people held signs provided by the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (NJAIJ), the state’s largest immigration coalition. Several speakers representing immigrant rights organizations — including NJAIJ Executive Director, Amy Torres — spoke about how attacks on the Palestine movement and attacks on immigrants are connected.

“Yes this is about Palestine, and also this is not about Palestine,” Torres said in a speech to the crowd. “This is about this administration taking the issue that they believe is the least sympathetic and making an example out of the people that they arrest so that they can dehumanize the issue, they can dehumanize the actors, they can dehumanize the people standing up as a means of going after every single one of us.”  (more...)

‘Every arrest that ICE has made is a political one’: How immigrant rights activists are fighting attacks on the Palestine movement