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Occupy ICE protesters camped out on the sidewalk in front of the loading dock / van egress at 201 Varick St., where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds detainees. At the urging of the New Sanctuar y Coalition, they eventually agreed to relocate their protest across the street.
Occupiers protest at ICE detention center Member of the New York Member of the National Press Association Newspaper Association
BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y
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June 28, 2018
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ederal immigration authorities halted some operations at the Varick St. Immigration Court facility, including Monday’s bond hearings, while protestors occupied the sidewalks outside the loading dock / van egress on the W. Houston St. side of the building. According to Gothamist, this came four days after protesters with the growing Occupy ICE movement began gathering at the building, which processes and is a temporary detention center for immigrants arrested in the city. The anarchist group Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Council, or MACC, led the protesters, with demonstrators remaining outside overnight. Their goal is to stop ICE agents from transferring immigrants to one of the five county jails that hold immigrants slated for deportation. In a video posted by Rise and Resist from last Friday, protestors outside 201 Varick St. locked arms to block departing vans. About 10 ICE officers, some uniformed,
one with a dog, physically moved the protestors to allow the van to exit, while demonstrators shouted, “No borders! No nations! Stop deportations!” On Monday, there was a call by the protesters to “Bring bodies, not tents.” On June 25, Gothamist, quoting an attorney who works out of 201 Varick, who said that the protest “is in some ways in ICE’s favor, because it could prolong the detention of people who may have had a hearing tomorrow.” The attorney noted that some detainees — many of whom are booked at Varick St. but then transferred to jails in New Jersey or Upstate New York — would likely remain held there until their next hearing, which could take up to six weeks. “At the same time,” she offered, “it could also prolong the deportation process.” This particular strategy for a demonstration is not supported by the New Sanctuary Coalition, which has partnered with Reverend Billy and the monthly Thursday early-evening bicycle protests. Yet, Occupy ICE seemed to have grown out of the Thursday bicycle rally. Early Fri-
day morning, one protester was arrested outside the Varick St. facility. Occupy ICE blocked the loading dock area and occupied the sidewalk all weekend. Immigrant detainees’ lawyers did not appear on Monday, and scheduled hearings were canceled. Around 10 p.m. Monday night, about 50 protesters were encamped outside the building’s W. Houston St. loading dock when New Sanctuary Coalition organizer Sara Gozalo — agreeing with the attorney’s analysis of how these protests could actually prolong people’s detention — pleaded with them to relocate their protest action to outside ICE’s offices at Duane St. at Federal Plaza. Gozalo had met with them numerous times during the day. In the evening, speaking to the Occupiers at their “general assembly,” she pleaded with them that this was harmful to detainees and they should relocate. At 11 p.m. Monday night, Occupy ICE moved across the street to the north side of W. Houston St. TheVillager.com