WEBVTT 00:00:00.194 --> 00:00:08.380 - Good evening, everybody. Would you all please mind coming over to the area that's roughly in the line 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:16.567 - between this table and Murth, so we're all closer together. And I think it would be helpful if you're 00:00:16.567 --> 00:00:23.870 - not congregating down there by the sidewalk, but kind of stay up close and close together. 00:00:36.354 --> 00:00:56.062 - you could come a little bit closer. The nice grassy areas will be really soft on your feet. So please 00:00:56.062 --> 00:01:06.302 - come on over. So good evening everybody and welcome. 00:01:07.042 --> 00:01:14.832 - I want to welcome all of you who have joined us tonight. You have taken the time to be here rather than 00:01:14.832 --> 00:01:22.322 - doing a myriad of other things that you might want to be doing on a Friday night. And I and the ISD 00:01:22.322 --> 00:01:29.887 - Taney's are grateful for your presence. The sun has just set and darkness is about to descend on us. 00:01:29.887 --> 00:01:36.254 - This is a very appropriate time for a ritual for the ISD Taney's. The ISD Taney's in 00:01:36.450 --> 00:01:44.097 - the Miami Correctional Facility in the entire state of Indiana, in the entire country, and even those 00:01:44.097 --> 00:01:51.819 - immigrants who have been shipped like cattle to other countries. Before we begin, it's probably a good 00:01:51.819 --> 00:01:59.842 - idea to remind us that this is a peaceful, reverent, nonviolent vigil. We believe in a collective approach 00:01:59.842 --> 00:02:04.190 - to safety. Let us all be helpful and kind to one another. 00:02:05.378 --> 00:02:13.237 - Respect our differences. Let's be aware of our surroundings. And if there's any issues, there are a 00:02:13.237 --> 00:02:21.253 - few folks in Orange West that can help you out. This is a country of immigrants. Immigrants have come 00:02:21.253 --> 00:02:29.584 - here guided by light and hope to escape persecution, to make a better life for themselves, and to provide 00:02:29.584 --> 00:02:33.278 - for a safe and secure future for the children. 00:02:34.722 --> 00:02:42.722 - Now many live in fear and fear of ice making arbitrary arrests. For many of our immigrant sisters and 00:02:42.722 --> 00:02:51.193 - brothers, darkness has descended on them. They have been arrested. They have had their loved ones arrested. 00:02:51.193 --> 00:02:59.272 - Their families have been torn apart. Their livelihood is in danger if not destroyed. So we gather here 00:02:59.272 --> 00:03:04.606 - to pray for all the victims of ice, to mourn with all the families, 00:03:04.866 --> 00:03:13.453 - who had in our having their lives and their livelihoods appended, and to express our strong and unwavering 00:03:13.453 --> 00:03:21.559 - support for all our sisters and brothers whose lives have been impacted by ICE. We will start with a 00:03:21.559 --> 00:03:29.905 - simple song. The good folks from Singing Resistance will teach us a simple song, and all of us can join 00:03:29.905 --> 00:03:34.078 - in. I cannot carry a tune, but even I will join in. 00:03:35.682 --> 00:03:44.989 - That's because we all carry it together. So nobody has to carry it. This is a song called We Belong 00:03:44.989 --> 00:03:54.482 - to Each Other by Annie Schlafer. So I'll sing a phrase and then you repeat. Everyone, oh everyone, oh 00:03:54.482 --> 00:04:03.882 - everyone of these people are ours. Your turn. Everyone, oh everyone, oh everyone of these people are 00:04:03.882 --> 00:04:05.278 - ours. My turn. 00:04:05.730 --> 00:04:29.502 - Just like we are theirs. Just like we are theirs. And we belong to them. And they belong to us. There you go. 00:04:43.234 --> 00:05:02.096 - are ours. Everyone, oh everyone, oh everyone of these people are ours. Just like we are theirs. Just 00:05:02.096 --> 00:05:08.446 - like we are theirs. And we belong 00:05:15.394 --> 00:05:22.298 - And we belong to them. And they belong to us. I'm going to sing the whole thing. And if you want to 00:05:22.298 --> 00:05:29.547 - listen the first time to the whole thing, we've got the words up here too. And then we're going to split 00:05:29.547 --> 00:05:36.520 - into two groups and do this in a round. And it's not just because it sounds cool and it's fun to do, 00:05:36.520 --> 00:05:43.838 - but it creates these beautiful harmonies so that we sing these words and we really make these words real. 00:05:44.578 --> 00:05:53.538 - and we create beautiful harmony together. So this song is a metaphor for everything that we're doing 00:05:53.538 --> 00:06:02.676 - here. So here's how the whole thing goes. Everyone, oh everyone, oh everyone, oh these people are ours 00:06:02.676 --> 00:06:04.894 - just like we are theirs. 00:06:23.426 --> 00:06:33.805 - Just like we are theirs. And we belong to them and they belong to us. Let's see if we can do it once. 00:06:33.805 --> 00:06:45.406 - I'm going to put this mic down because it's about all of us together. So let's just listen to us together. Ready? 00:08:22.946 --> 00:08:31.484 - Stand in solidarity with our immigrant sisters and brothers. It's appropriate to keep in mind what they 00:08:31.484 --> 00:08:39.939 - might feel like to have to flee their country, to lose their home, to lose their country. And Lenzen's 00:08:39.939 --> 00:08:44.126 - going to read a poem about loss of country for us. 00:08:51.394 --> 00:09:02.026 - The name of this poem is I Was in a Hurry by Junya Mikhail. Yesterday I lost a country. I was in a hurry 00:09:02.026 --> 00:09:12.254 - and didn't notice when it fell from me like a broken branch from a forgetful tree. Please, if anyone 00:09:12.254 --> 00:09:19.646 - passes by and stumbles across it, perhaps in a suitcase open to the sky, 00:09:20.482 --> 00:09:30.360 - or engraved on a rock like a gaping wound, or wrapped in the blankets of immigrants, or canceled like 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:40.237 - a losing lottery ticket, or helplessly forgotten in purgatory, or rushing forward without a goal like 00:09:40.237 --> 00:09:49.534 - the questions of children, or rising with the smoke of war, or rolling in a helmet on the sand, 00:09:50.370 --> 00:09:59.948 - or stolen in Alibaba's jar, or disguised in the uniform of a policeman who stirred up the prisoners 00:09:59.948 --> 00:10:09.526 - and then fled, or squatting in the mind of a woman who tries to smile, or scattered like the dreams 00:10:09.526 --> 00:10:19.870 - of new immigrants in America. If anyone stumbles across it, return it to me, please. Please return it, sir. 00:10:20.450 --> 00:10:32.412 - Please return it, madam. It is my country. I was in a hurry when I lost it yesterday. Thanks, Pete. 00:10:32.412 --> 00:10:44.493 - Please join us in the next song, which you can find on your song sheet that was handed out. The song 00:10:44.493 --> 00:10:49.278 - comes from my personal faith tradition. 00:10:51.330 --> 00:10:59.011 - There's a word that shows up that might not be part of your faith tradition called the Christ. So whenever 00:10:59.011 --> 00:11:06.477 - you see the word the Christ, please feel free to replace the word love with that word. I would not want 00:11:06.477 --> 00:11:13.944 - anybody to feel alienated a part of it or marginalized because we come from different faith traditions. 00:11:13.944 --> 00:11:19.902 - And Pastor Adrian will lead us off into the song. I've heard her before in church. 00:11:21.090 --> 00:11:33.015 - she can carry it to and it leaves us off pretty well. You should be afraid about asking a soprano to 00:11:33.015 --> 00:11:45.057 - lead music. Let us sing together. Build a longer table, not a higher wall. Feeding the soup of worth, 00:11:45.057 --> 00:11:49.662 - making room for all. We sing together. 00:11:52.034 --> 00:12:10.125 - Christ breaks walls to pieces, walls divisions end. Build a safer refuge, not a larger jail. Where the 00:12:10.125 --> 00:12:17.150 - weak find shelter, mercy will not fail. 00:12:22.338 --> 00:12:32.382 - justice is denied Christ will 00:13:23.906 --> 00:13:47.934 - Thank you. Vicki Balansky will read a litany that is placed. 00:14:02.082 --> 00:14:12.282 - we bring before you all who work for the fullness of justice, all who long for the widening of welcome, 00:14:12.282 --> 00:14:22.286 - to which your gospel calls us. We pray. Open hearts, open arms, open doors in welcome. Displaced God, 00:14:22.286 --> 00:14:30.622 - born in flight to parents anxious and weary, born anew in those who flee oppression, 00:14:31.778 --> 00:14:41.559 - leaving home and loved ones behind, and staking their lives on the hope of abundant life. We pray. Open 00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:51.529 - hearts, open arms, open doors and welcome. Journeying God, turned away over and over again by our world's 00:14:51.529 --> 00:15:01.310 - collective fear of the stranger, we pray. Open hearts, open arms, open doors and welcome. Uprooted God, 00:15:01.762 --> 00:15:10.229 - suspended in the endless uncertainty that is the daily life of the migrant, we pray. Open hearts, 00:15:10.229 --> 00:15:19.214 - open arms, open doors and welcome. Waiting, God, waiting today with all who suffer separation from home 00:15:19.214 --> 00:15:28.027 - and the familiar, waiting for safe return, waiting for war's end, waiting for justice to be restored, 00:15:28.027 --> 00:15:30.878 - we pray. Open hearts, open arms, 00:15:31.106 --> 00:15:38.626 - Open doors and welcome. God of all people, stir us to holy anger over the wounds of our world. Move 00:15:38.626 --> 00:15:46.446 - us to action for justice until the fullness of welcome is fulfilled in our midst. And the problems that 00:15:46.446 --> 00:15:53.966 - cause migration, the poverty, the fear, and the suffering, are confronted by all people of goodwill 00:15:53.966 --> 00:15:57.726 - and transformed by the power of compassion. Amen. 00:16:12.482 --> 00:16:27.850 - Two men have died this year in ICE detention at the Miami Correctional Facility. You, Loreen, will now 00:16:27.850 --> 00:16:41.278 - hear the story of one of those men who died. Lorth Sim, a 59-year-old Cambodian national, 00:16:42.338 --> 00:16:53.161 - who died on February 16th of this year. Officials attributed his death primarily to cardiovascular disease 00:16:53.161 --> 00:17:04.186 - and diabetes. Born in 1966, Lorath was nine years old when the murderous Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia. 00:17:04.186 --> 00:17:10.558 - He fled to the United States and arrived as a refugee in 1983. 00:17:11.714 --> 00:17:22.163 - He was granted permanent residency status in 1986, which he later lost for minor criminal convictions. 00:17:22.163 --> 00:17:32.410 - He was arrested in Boston in December, 2025 and shipped 900 miles to the Miami Correctional Facility 00:17:32.410 --> 00:17:40.830 - right here in Bunker Hill, Indiana. He died in that facility on February the 16th. 00:17:41.762 --> 00:17:59.134 - 2026. We light one candle for the world since 00:18:25.090 --> 00:18:37.565 - You will not hear the story of the second man who died in the Miami ICE detention facility. Hello, everyone. 00:18:37.565 --> 00:18:49.467 - Thanks for being here tonight. I want to share a brief story about Tuan Van Gough. He was a 55-year-old 00:18:49.467 --> 00:18:54.846 - Vietnamese man who died this spring on April 1 00:18:55.618 --> 00:19:05.636 - He was found unresponsive in his cell. He came to this country in 1990 as a 29-year-old person. He came 00:19:05.636 --> 00:19:15.366 - through a visa program established for Vietnamese children of American fathers. After arriving here, 00:19:15.366 --> 00:19:22.398 - he did serve some time in prison for a misdemeanor drug charge in a DUI. 00:19:24.098 --> 00:19:33.457 - ICE claimed that Boo had committed other crimes, but these crimes were contested. He was detained in 00:19:33.457 --> 00:19:43.001 - Philadelphia during a routine immigration check-in last August. After his detention, his wife suffered 00:19:43.001 --> 00:19:52.638 - a stroke. Boo continued to suffer at the Miami Correctional Facility from asthma and hypertension until 00:19:53.026 --> 00:20:09.470 - He was found out this spring. 00:20:48.066 --> 00:20:56.521 - Let us offer prayer for the men and women who have died in ice custody. Blessed are you who are the 00:20:56.521 --> 00:21:04.975 - keeper of the book of life. Today we remember the two men who have died in ice custody in the Miami 00:21:04.975 --> 00:21:13.430 - Correctional Facility, Laura Sim and Tuan Van Bui. Each one of you has a candle. I'm going to bring 00:21:13.430 --> 00:21:17.150 - one light to one or two people on my right. 00:21:17.538 --> 00:21:23.198 - and perhaps he can pass the candle through the rest of the crowd to bring some light to this darkness. 00:22:06.882 --> 00:22:15.725 - The news of their death has filled us with grief. We know that you almost die, but these deaths especially 00:22:15.725 --> 00:22:24.321 - fill us with sadness and grief. We remember in our prayers our friends and families who surely are lost 00:22:24.321 --> 00:22:32.999 - in sorrow at this time. May you best remember Lord Sam and Tuan Van Bui by being grateful for life today 00:22:32.999 --> 00:22:35.230 - and by loving our neighbor 00:22:35.746 --> 00:22:47.231 - our neighbors, with all our hearts, with all our strengths, and all our minds. Eternal rest to Lorsam 00:22:47.231 --> 00:22:59.166 - and Tanman Bui, and divine consolation to the families. While the lights are going through, Pastor Adrian 00:22:59.166 --> 00:23:05.246 - will give us a reflection on the life that these guys 00:23:05.506 --> 00:23:17.017 - the detainees are facing and how it might relate to that. My spouse is a public speaking teacher and 00:23:17.017 --> 00:23:28.529 - he tells me that early on in his speech you're supposed to like give your credentials right like why 00:23:28.529 --> 00:23:32.062 - should anyone listen to me and 00:23:32.418 --> 00:23:43.077 - Ever since Gerhard asked me to do this, I have been convincing myself that I have none. I know all the 00:23:43.077 --> 00:23:53.839 - reasons why I am busy or afraid, why I seem to find myself standing on the fringes of people and groups 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:58.910 - that are doing this good work. But you asked me. 00:23:59.554 --> 00:24:05.845 - So then I thought about, when I am an expert at, I thought, you know what, I will bring a Bible study, 00:24:05.845 --> 00:24:12.137 - I will tell you about all the things that the Bible has to say about immigration, or some piece of it. 00:24:12.137 --> 00:24:18.551 - You know, like Moses, who got in an altercation trying to defend a fellow Israelite, accidentally killed 00:24:18.551 --> 00:24:24.781 - an Egyptian and had to flee, or Jesus, who with his family and his infancy had to flee their home for 00:24:24.781 --> 00:24:27.774 - Egypt because a murderous tyrant was after them. 00:24:28.802 --> 00:24:39.208 - And of course, the Bible by sheer volume says more about welcoming the stranger or caring for the poor 00:24:39.208 --> 00:24:49.614 - and marginalized than just about anything else. But I realized that all of you who are here know that, 00:24:49.614 --> 00:24:58.302 - that you're angry and that you want things to be different. Those are my credentials. 00:24:59.074 --> 00:25:07.584 - I'm angry and I want things to be different. In the church today, we celebrate, I mean on this day, 00:25:07.584 --> 00:25:16.179 - August 28th, it is the feast of Saint Augustine. Saint Augustine was a fourth century speech teacher 00:25:16.179 --> 00:25:24.859 - who was a reluctant convert to Christianity but became one of the fathers of Western theology and all 00:25:24.859 --> 00:25:27.582 - of us have to contend with him. 00:25:27.970 --> 00:25:34.995 - Here are these great big tomes I'm sure someone has read. I have not. But one of the things that he 00:25:34.995 --> 00:25:42.091 - says that resonates deeply with me is that hope has two beautiful daughters, anger at the way things 00:25:42.091 --> 00:25:49.187 - are, and courage that they don't remain as they are. And I know a lot of people are angry. They come 00:25:49.187 --> 00:25:56.353 - to me in my office and say, I'm really angry and I don't think I should be. I don't think that's what 00:25:56.353 --> 00:25:57.758 - a good person does. 00:25:58.146 --> 00:26:06.559 - I've never found it particularly helpful to try to become un-angry. Feelings come and feelings go. But 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:14.891 - what we can do is pay attention to our anger. We are angry because our neighbors are being taken away 00:26:14.891 --> 00:26:23.386 - from us. Our anger is telling us something important. But anger is not all there is. There is this hope 00:26:23.386 --> 00:26:25.918 - that things will be different. 00:26:27.042 --> 00:26:34.043 - And that gives us the courage to act. It gives us the courage to stand in vigil, to protest, 00:26:34.043 --> 00:26:41.721 - to write letters, to call people to show up in their offices. It gives us the courage to do this very 00:26:41.721 --> 00:26:49.249 - basic act, which is to pay attention, to look and not to look away. Because our neighbors are being 00:26:49.249 --> 00:26:55.422 - taken from us and they're being put behind walls where we can no longer see them. 00:26:55.842 --> 00:27:05.669 - They're being taken to courtrooms where we, most of us, cannot go, put on planes where we cannot follow 00:27:05.669 --> 00:27:15.779 - them, and taken to countries our State Department says we should not visit because it is not safe. Tyranny 00:27:15.779 --> 00:27:24.094 - thrives on ignorance. Tyranny is spread by division. Tyranny feeds on the marginalized. 00:27:25.506 --> 00:27:33.505 - And we can do this courageous act of paying attention, of bearing witness to what is happening, and 00:27:33.505 --> 00:27:41.504 - doing the things that make what is happening no longer this way. And we do it collectively, because 00:27:41.504 --> 00:27:49.823 - when we are collectively angry, when we are collectively courageous, then we have hope that things will 00:27:49.823 --> 00:27:54.142 - not remain this way. So let us tonight remember those 00:27:54.274 --> 00:28:08.122 - who have been taken from us. Remember those who have died and let us pray for the courage that things 00:28:08.122 --> 00:28:19.934 - will not remain this way any longer. Thank you. In my book, those words are credential 00:28:24.962 --> 00:28:43.006 - The next speaker is Miguel Avila. Miguel will tell us about his own personal experience with ice. 00:29:02.658 --> 00:29:10.269 - such a blessing to see so many wise people here together taking part of this event. Thank you for being 00:29:10.269 --> 00:29:18.246 - here today. Before I begin, I want to assure all of you that I am in full possession of my mental faculties. 00:29:18.246 --> 00:29:25.857 - I am very healthy. I have no intentions of committing suicide or harm myself in any way, shape or form. 00:29:25.857 --> 00:29:29.662 - I love my family and I have no desire to disappear. 00:29:30.274 --> 00:29:37.793 - I am seeing this just in case something happens to be all of a sudden. With that being said, let's move 00:29:37.793 --> 00:29:45.457 - on and my God have mercy on me. My name is Miguel Avila. I am originally from Mexico and have been living 00:29:45.457 --> 00:29:53.120 - in this country for more than 22 years. I am a typical neighbor next door. I am a husband. I am a father. 00:29:53.120 --> 00:29:58.398 - I am a friend. I am a member of the community just like any of you here. 00:30:00.418 --> 00:30:07.280 - I am an advocate of fight for immigrants' rights, but I specifically fight for the rights of immigrants 00:30:07.280 --> 00:30:13.878 - for our immigrants' brothers and sisters in detention. When I visit those facilities, I do it along 00:30:13.878 --> 00:30:20.872 - with a group of very brave and dedicated volunteers that cares for the well-being of detained immigrants. 00:30:20.872 --> 00:30:25.886 - The organization name is Indiana Aid Assistance to Immigrants in Detention. 00:30:27.298 --> 00:30:35.406 - We observe the difficulties and emotional challenges faced by them, but only I can feel their pain and 00:30:35.406 --> 00:30:43.279 - sorrow in a particular way only I can feel. I can feel the impact and the gradual decline in morale 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:51.466 - over time. And trust me, when I say that I understand the pain in a way most people can't, it's because 00:30:51.466 --> 00:30:55.166 - I have experienced that pain myself firsthand. 00:30:56.290 --> 00:31:04.961 - I had trouble that pat myself. Almost two years ago, I got released from one of the worst immigration 00:31:04.961 --> 00:31:13.632 - detention centers, where I spent a period a little over nine months in detention. I was granted bond, 00:31:13.632 --> 00:31:22.814 - and they still hold me 30 more days just because. Totally isolated from the senior world, with no sunlight, 00:31:22.814 --> 00:31:25.534 - no fresh air, no family visits, 00:31:26.274 --> 00:31:34.393 - Not knowing my whereabouts, losing track of time, not knowing if it's day or night. Living in some of 00:31:34.393 --> 00:31:42.353 - the worst conditions a human being could ever experience. But the worst, the worst part is not what 00:31:42.353 --> 00:31:50.712 - we go through in there. The worst part is what our broken families has to face while we're incarcerated. 00:31:50.712 --> 00:31:55.806 - The tremendous stress label my wife and family had to deal with 00:31:56.066 --> 00:32:04.245 - and the psychological trauma caused to my children. It's not something that can be easily handled. It 00:32:04.245 --> 00:32:12.986 - has caused loss and damage, and my family, my family's son would never be the same again. After experiencing 00:32:12.986 --> 00:32:21.406 - the hardship and challenges of the broken immigration system, I decided to turn adversity into advocacy. 00:32:22.306 --> 00:32:29.794 - I made a conscious decision to dedicate myself to activism and advocacy for immigrants' rights. This 00:32:29.794 --> 00:32:37.356 - journey began following my release, as I saw ways to support others who are facing similar struggles. 00:32:37.356 --> 00:32:44.919 - Today, when I'm not practicing my musical skills or writing poetry, I dedicate myself most of my time 00:32:44.919 --> 00:32:49.886 - visiting individuals held on the rights custody. My own experience 00:32:50.466 --> 00:32:58.051 - after falling on their broken immigration system, has provided me with a unique perspective, allowing 00:32:58.051 --> 00:33:05.934 - me to understand their suffering in a much deeper level. This shared pain, along with my own, has brought 00:33:05.934 --> 00:33:13.669 - me to a point where turning back is no longer an option. The empathy I feel for those detainees compels 00:33:13.669 --> 00:33:17.982 - me to continue my advocacy standing firmly alongside them 00:33:18.306 --> 00:33:27.887 - in their struggle for dignity and justice. These detention centers, they were built to challenge even 00:33:27.887 --> 00:33:37.375 - the most resilient human will. Although they tried to break me physically, I grew stronger. Although 00:33:37.375 --> 00:33:47.614 - they tried to defeat me mentally, I became smarter. Their efforts to undermine my morals only made me wiser, 00:33:48.898 --> 00:33:56.552 - And when they tried to wake me spiritually, I discovered that God had always been by my side. And that's 00:33:56.552 --> 00:34:03.842 - the reason why I decided to fight back in a more intelligent way. And just like that, poetry became 00:34:03.842 --> 00:34:11.642 - my language, music became my battle cry, and activism shifted shape into my spirit and shield to safeguard 00:34:11.642 --> 00:34:14.558 - the most vulnerable on the battlefield. 00:34:20.546 --> 00:34:29.167 - For my visit days, I walked in gloomy halls. I cannot ignore the haunting silence and the overwhelming 00:34:29.167 --> 00:34:37.536 - sense of despair that fills the air. Each visit reminds me that these are not just statistics. They 00:34:37.536 --> 00:34:46.659 - are somebody's brothers and sisters, somebody's fathers and mothers. They are somebody's sons and daughters. 00:34:46.659 --> 00:34:50.174 - And they just hang and embrace themselves 00:34:50.338 --> 00:34:57.847 - for the loved ones left behind. The overcrowded conditions and the absence of dignity are daily realities 00:34:57.847 --> 00:35:05.427 - for so many. Bearing witness to the suffering, all his strength as my resolve to fight for human treatment 00:35:05.427 --> 00:35:12.865 - and policies that respect the basic rights for every person, regardless of the immigration status. These 00:35:12.865 --> 00:35:16.478 - motivate me to stand by themselves, offer support, 00:35:17.218 --> 00:35:25.633 - and work tirelessly to champion the rights within our community. We know by fact that over 75% of the 00:35:25.633 --> 00:35:33.883 - people detained on the rights custody, over 75% of the people detained on the rights custody has no 00:35:33.883 --> 00:35:42.628 - criminal record at all. Most of them, they were illegally and unconstitutionally arrested, being racially 00:35:42.628 --> 00:35:47.166 - profiled just for not having a valid driver's license, 00:35:48.066 --> 00:35:56.005 - just being targeted for the skin color, or simply for being unable to speak fluid English, or having 00:35:56.005 --> 00:36:04.258 - a stroke accent. Here in Indiana, we have the Miami Correctional Facility, which happens to be a maximum 00:36:04.258 --> 00:36:12.433 - secure prison. The one that they have absolutely nicknamed the Speed Slammer. But I give it a different 00:36:12.433 --> 00:36:18.014 - name. I call it the Modern Asmitch. Because that's what they're doing. 00:36:19.074 --> 00:36:27.203 - There's nothing else but modern concentration camps. In there, they have almost 800 that they need already 00:36:27.203 --> 00:36:35.179 - under ice custody, but they have conditioned the place for 1,000 beds capacity. This is without counting 00:36:35.179 --> 00:36:43.232 - the other six detention centers all over Indiana. Now, I want you all to think for a moment and to please 00:36:43.232 --> 00:36:48.702 - keep in mind, every single bed in detention represents a broken family. 00:36:49.986 --> 00:36:57.597 - Every single belly detention represents pain and suffering of thousands of family members in crisis. 00:36:57.597 --> 00:37:05.585 - So this is what the people needs to get off the comfort zone. Because this is nothing new. This situation 00:37:05.585 --> 00:37:13.723 - got out of control a long time ago. People need to understand that simply by doing nothing, they contribute 00:37:13.723 --> 00:37:19.902 - to the system to keep pulling us over and over. So it is time to raise awareness. 00:37:21.058 --> 00:37:28.579 - It's time to raise our voices. We need to block and prevent future detention facilities from opening 00:37:28.579 --> 00:37:36.249 - in the state of Indiana, and not just the state of Indiana. Let's spread the voice around all over the 00:37:36.249 --> 00:37:43.918 - entire country. Let's keep praying for our brothers and sisters in detention, but we also need to take 00:37:43.918 --> 00:37:49.950 - action as well. We need to help each other. Only the people can save the people. 00:37:50.914 --> 00:37:58.722 - So please help us to keep helping those in need. This is the moment. Brothers and sisters, love your 00:37:58.722 --> 00:38:03.902 - neighbor as you love yourselves. May God bless you all. Thank you. 00:38:22.050 --> 00:38:31.123 - We will now, all of us, read the names of the IAS detainees that may enter the facility. Each one of 00:38:31.123 --> 00:38:40.196 - you, when you walk in, you receive the packet. There are one or two index cards. Each index card has 00:38:40.196 --> 00:38:49.448 - five names on it. Some of these names, how to pronounce them might not be familiar to you, but you all 00:38:49.448 --> 00:38:50.526 - do our best 00:38:51.298 --> 00:39:02.819 - to read all those names. So please, if you have those cards in front of you, join me as I read from 00:39:02.819 --> 00:39:14.916 - my index cards, and each one of us will have five names or 10 names to read. Ayelet Bektanovich Mikivai, 00:39:14.916 --> 00:39:18.718 - Samuel Mandolo, Francis Dunford, 00:39:20.450 --> 00:39:36.945 - Marius Naranjo Pico, Daniel Nava Puke, Ricardo Ponciano Felix, Kevin Portillo Vazquez, Ivonelle Puseli, 00:39:36.945 --> 00:39:42.814 - Lydon Pradenovich, Robinson Prunier. 00:39:50.466 --> 00:40:03.529 - Thank you. Andrew Gabriel and singing your systems will help us lead that song again to remind us that 00:40:03.529 --> 00:40:16.338 - we are all together. Can we come in closer so we can all hear each other's voices? All this space is 00:40:16.338 --> 00:40:18.494 - open right here. 00:40:35.298 --> 00:40:37.598 - Just like we 00:42:54.338 --> 00:43:04.129 - chosen to read the names of the detainees simultaneously to shed some light and to reflect on their 00:43:04.129 --> 00:43:14.019 - situations. As we read their names, the names were blurred, jumbled, unintelligible. These detainees 00:43:14.019 --> 00:43:21.950 - have been robbed of their individuality. They have been denied even their names. 00:43:23.554 --> 00:43:34.205 - They have been deprived of their dignity. They have been stripped of their humanity. How do we react 00:43:34.205 --> 00:43:45.172 - to all the suffering, suffering inflicted by men and women on their fellow brothers and sisters? Anger, 00:43:45.172 --> 00:43:47.070 - sadness, despair. 00:43:52.514 --> 00:44:01.740 - All of these emotions are certainly understandable, but there's hope. This weekend, starting today till 00:44:01.740 --> 00:44:10.788 - Sunday, there are over 60 vigils, demonstrations, marches, teach-ins, all across the state, from Zara 00:44:10.788 --> 00:44:17.086 - Ho to Richmond, from South Bend, all the way down to Jefferson County. 00:44:20.770 --> 00:44:32.771 - to all these people of Goodwill standing up and saying no to ICE, no to deportations, no to cruelty. 00:44:32.771 --> 00:44:44.891 - And you all are saying yes to our immigrant sisters and brothers, yes to dignity, yes to love. And we 00:44:44.891 --> 00:44:50.238 - can hope for a more human and humane future. 00:44:50.978 --> 00:45:00.489 - And you have one more song to sing, which is, in my mind, one of the most hopeful tunes. I know it's 00:45:00.489 --> 00:45:09.246 - called The Canticle of the Turning. And you can find it on your song sheet on the back side. 00:45:21.378 --> 00:45:33.754 - My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great. And my spirit sings of the 00:45:33.754 --> 00:45:46.130 - wondrous things that you bring to the ones who wait. You placed your sight on your servant's flight 00:45:46.130 --> 00:45:50.462 - and my weakness you did not spurn. 00:45:51.266 --> 00:46:03.631 - Shall my name be blessed? Could the world be about to turn? My heart shall sing of the day you bring. 00:46:03.631 --> 00:46:17.086 - Let the fires of your justice burn. Wipe away all tears for the God draws near and the world is about to turn. 00:47:19.938 --> 00:47:20.766 - The King. 00:48:04.674 --> 00:48:05.790 - the nation. 00:49:13.410 --> 00:49:20.851 - As we go forth from here in a little bit, I ask you to consider prayerfully what you can do to help 00:49:20.851 --> 00:49:28.516 - those least of our brothers and sisters who are detained by ICE and those who live in fear of ICE. You 00:49:28.516 --> 00:49:36.105 - have five or 10 names on the index card on your package. Please feel free to take them home with you. 00:49:36.105 --> 00:49:39.454 - You are invited to pray for those detainees. 00:49:39.842 --> 00:49:46.972 - or to think of any other act of kindness or solidarity for these people. If you want to write a letter 00:49:46.972 --> 00:49:54.241 - to those persons on your card, there's an instruction sheet attached to the package that you got. Please 00:49:54.241 --> 00:50:01.717 - follow these instructions meticulously. You also have on that sheet information for our contact information 00:50:01.717 --> 00:50:06.494 - for our elected officials. I think they need to hear from all of us. 00:50:08.482 --> 00:50:15.858 - They feel free to contact them and demand that they stop their cruelty. If you look around you, there 00:50:15.858 --> 00:50:23.089 - are various places where there's a QR code. There's one sign over there by the speaker. There are a 00:50:23.089 --> 00:50:30.464 - few others around here. If you take your phone and zero in on the QR code, it will say immediately if 00:50:30.464 --> 00:50:37.406 - you want to an email to the Department of Correction Commissioner to end these cruel practices. 00:50:41.154 --> 00:50:50.620 - We'll sing one more time, we belong to each other. And after that song, there will be a blessing for 00:50:50.620 --> 00:50:51.838 - the Itagans. 00:51:27.746 --> 00:51:39.264 - Can I go forward from this place without pronouncing blessings? A blessing for the ICE detainees in 00:51:39.264 --> 00:51:51.128 - the Miami facility and in all ICE facilities across the country. May you be peaceful. May you be safe. 00:51:51.128 --> 00:51:54.814 - May you be free from suffering. 00:51:57.122 --> 00:52:08.534 - our immigrant brothers and sisters. May you be peaceful. May you be safe. May you be free from suffering. 00:52:08.534 --> 00:52:19.839 - For all of you, assembled here tonight, and all those people of goodwill who hold our immigrant brothers 00:52:19.839 --> 00:52:26.622 - in their hearts, as you leave this place, may you be peaceful, 00:52:27.682 --> 00:52:39.302 - May you be safe. May you be free from suffering. And for all men and women who are working on border 00:52:39.302 --> 00:52:51.153 - security, you might be thinking of them as our adversaries, our enemies, but we're called to love them 00:52:51.153 --> 00:52:55.870 - as well. So there's a blessing for them. 00:52:58.146 --> 00:53:08.976 - May you be peaceful. May you be safe. May you be free from suffering. Thank you all for coming. 00:53:08.976 --> 00:53:19.806 - It is a joy. It gives me hope that so many of you have come here tonight. Thank you. Thank you.