| Caravan4Peace |
| Caravan participants, together with national and local community leaders, expressed their solidarity with those incarcerated |
Participants Denounce the Incarceration of Immigrants and the Incarceration of People Who Use Drugs
During symbolic visit to “Tent City” jail, poet Javier Sicilia and other Mexican victims of War On Drugs to condemn inhumane practices of Joe Arpaio, longtime drug war enforcer and anti-immigrant sheriff
On third stop of cross-country journey, Caravan expresses its solidarity with those incarcerated and demands an end to drug war that has resulted in more than 60,000 killed and 10,000 disappeared in Mexico
On Thursday, the “Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity” will visit Maricopa County’s notorious “Tent City” jail to denounce the criminalization and inhumane treatment of immigrants and people who use drugs.
Led by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, the Caravan will condemn the dehumanizing practices of Joe Arpaio, the infamous anti-immigrant sheriff and former DEA agent, who has made enforcing the failed prohibition of drugs a centerpiece of his career.
| Caravan For Peace |
| Mexican poet Javier Sicilia leads the Caravan for Peace, Justice and Dignity |
Sicilia emerged as a leader of Mexico’s Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD) after his son, Juan Francisco, was killed in senseless prohibition-related violence last year.
Since then, the MPJD has undertaken similar caravans across Mexico to collect stories of the destruction caused by the war against drugs and organized crime. Through these caravans, victims have expressed in their own voices the drug war’s devastating consequences.
Sicilia, together with other victims of the Drug War from both Mexico and the United States, are in Phoenix on the third stop of their cross-country journey to bring an end to the disastrous War On Drugs that has left more than 60,000 dead in Mexico in the last five years.
A press conference was held immediately following the Caravan’s visit to Tent City, in which Caravan participants, together with local and national community leaders, will express their solidarity with those incarcerated in the jail – often under degrading and dangerous conditions. Many of the people held in Tent City are incarcerated for non-violent drug and immigration offenses.
“This movement brings together activists from both of our countries to shed light on the policies that have failed our families, neighbors, and nations,” Sicilia said. “United, we will raise our voices to call for an end to a war on drugs that allows entire communities to become casualties, and we will demand a shift in attention to poverty and the lack of economic opportunity that helps breed the criminality.”