NJ Citizen Action’s Statement in Solidarity Against Human Rights Violations Here and Abroad
NEWARK: New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA) issued the following statement today condemning the ongoing atrocities in Gaza and the United States’ cruel mass deportation efforts and policies, calling on elected officials to take urgent action. Executive Director of NJCA Dena Mottola Jaborska has called for the following actions on Gaza:
- An immediate ceasefire of military operations in Gaza
- Immediately allow the free flow of humanitarian organizations and aide into Gaza to address the urgent food and health care needs of the population
- The immediate release of all Israeli and Palestinian hostages
- All elected officials, in New Jersey and elsewhere, to condemn the violence and actions to stop the flow of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
- An end to labeling calls for justice and support to Gaza as anti-Semitic. What is occurring in Gaza is an attempt at genocide and a gross human rights violation. Palestinians deserve the same human rights protections as the people of Israel.
“The protection and preservation of human rights is essential to a thriving democracy – and yet, the genocide in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels,” said Mottola Jaborska. “With U.S. support, Israeli military operations in the troubled region have devastated civilian infrastructure, killed over 18,500 of children, and pushed millions to the brink of famine and displacement. The U.S. must demand that Israel take immediate action to end the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza or face withdrawal of US financial, military and diplomatic support.
“At the same time, here in the United States, the Trump administration’s mass deportation effort, being carried out in the most grossly inhumane way imaginable, is hurting families and communities across our country. People have been abused, denied basic needs, separated from their families and have had their human rights violated.”
On U.S. immigration policy NJCA urges all elected US representatives to:
- End the targeted round up and mass deportation of non-criminal immigrants sweeping the country causing irreparable harm to (or violating) innocent people, including those with protected immigration status, refugees we invited in and people who came to the U.S for humanitarian reasons.
- Require ICE / DHS officers abide by the same rules as any law enforcement officials by requiring them to identify themselves, advise people of their rights and follow all laws pertaining to arrest, including having valid warrants. ICE/DHS officers must be in a uniform - marked with their affiliation and in vehicles that are also marked, unmasked with visible faces, and fully identifiable.
- Require anyone detained by ICE to have rapid access to lawyers, family, and full and fair due process proceedings before being placed in detention center.
- End all incentives and quotas for ICE/DHS officers that is driving many to violate laws and rights of immigrants including wrongfully detaining citizens
- End privately owned immigration detention facilities from operating in New Jersey
- End any use of our military in civil protests or deportation efforts
- Reverse the decision to use McGuire-Fort Dix as an immigration detention camp
- Ensure detention centers in NJ and around the country have independent oversight of facilities and immediately investigate appalling conditions reported. Take immediate action to fix our immigration system and pass comprehensive immigration reform that provides a pathway to citizenship and honors our history, as a nation of immigrants, and helps this country to thrive.
“These tactics and policies undermine our democracy and must be stopped. As a non-profit organization committed to justice, we cannot remain silent while these atrocities are carried out with our tax dollars. Now is not the time for silence or neutrality. Our democracy cannot thrive while it is complicit in the abuse and dehumanization of people: whether they are children in Gaza or families seeking safety and opportunity in the United States. We call on our elected leaders to join us in this call. Our collective voice must rise louder than the forces of injustice. We must act now.”
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New Jersey Citizen Action is a statewide advocacy and empowerment organization that fights for social, racial and economic justice for all.
