Rabbi Joshua Lesser is the spiritual leader of Atlanta’s Congregation Bet Haverim and an active member of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, which advocates for more just immigration policies.
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Detention Centers Are Exploiting Immigrant Labor
ICE detainees are seen at the Adelanto immigration detention center in Adelanto, Calif. April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
I am in a cramped waiting room overflowing with the family members of detained immigrants. There is no bathroom easily accessible nor any other amenity. Family members and other visitors, many of them children, wait for hours here at Stewart Immigration Detention Facility for the opportunity to spend the one hour they are permitted per week with their loved one. When a staff member finally ushers me back to meet with a detainee at this Georgia facility, I notice that his employee badge bears the slogan, “CoreCivic: Pride in All We Do!”