Interfaith movement continues fight to close immigration detention centers in California

September 25 marks the beginning of the 2024 Pilgrimage to End Incarceration: A Journey to Freedom, an interfaith spiritual journey that is part of a multi-year effort to close California’s six remaining immigration detention centers.

Therefore, this pilgrimage begins next Wednesday in Bakersfield, then goes to Adelanto, Calexico and ends in San Diego.

“As we work with the communities we serve, we will support their local efforts to transition away from cage farming and invest in community well-being and life-sustaining economies,” the filmmakers said in a statement.

Their journey, they said, will be led by people directly affected and will bring the stories of former prisoners and detainees to immigrants, affected families and the wider community as they seek to build a foundation for freedom and justice.

During this pilgrimage, they said, they will bear witness to the sacredness of the land, the ancestors and the preventable harm and suffering caused by the detention of immigrants in California.

“We will gather at six immigration detention centers and other detention facilities to reflect, pray and act, meeting with local organizers along the way. We will reflect on the impacts of settler colonialism on California's Indigenous peoples, lands and waters, and how this has paved the way for a penal state that can and must be changed,” they stressed.

The pilgrimage is organized by the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, the Dignity Not Detention coalition and local community organizations.

They therefore invited directly affected community members, religious leaders and partners of the organizations to accompany them on this journey.

Anyone interested in the pilgrimage who has questions can contact Matthew by email. [email protected].

This might interest you: March for justice for undocumented migrants