In San Diego, activists "honk for justice," calling for the release of people in ICE detention

By Pedro Rios

Photos: Vanessa Cecena, Adriana Jasso, Pedro Rios/AFSC

AFSC took part in the Detention Watch Network’s #FreeThemAll national week of action to demand the liberation of all people in immigration detention.

In San Diego, AFSC supported the Otay Mesa Detention Resistance’s "Honk for Justice," a COVID-19-safe car rally to demand that Gov. Gavin Newsom and San Diego County officials advocate for the closure of the Otay Mesa Detention Center, a privately run detention facility in San Diego that profits from human suffering. 

More than 70 cars joined the caravan, driving through downtown San Diego in the call to free all ICE detainees before COVID-19 turns detention centers into death camps. Many of the participants were family members from Los Angeles, who drove to San Diego in support of their loved ones currently detained at the detention center.

The action was an important way of demonstrating that it is possible to safely hold a nonviolent direct action while raising urgent concerns that an infection at a detention center can result in disastrous consequences for migrants and detention facility workers.

Read more coverage in Liberation.