Philadelphia, PA – Supporters of the Shut Down Berks Campaign have shared a photo of a banner placed on the walnut street bridge in Center City Philadelphia this morning. The large banner reads, “ Biden End the ICE Contracts #ShutDownBerks”. President Biden is hosting a fundraiser for Senate Candidate John Fetterman today in Philadelphia.
The Coalition had urged Senate Candidate Feterman earlier in the week to use the face to face time with the President to publicly ask Biden to end the ICE contract in Berks County, a prison currently holding immigrant women seeking asylum. To date in 2022 there have been several hundred women from all over the world held in prison, countries include Venezuela, Haiti, Central American, Brazil, Ecuador, Romania, Ethiopia and Turkey. The coalition has gotten reports of medical neglect, lack of food, restricted time outdoors, lack of privacy during outgoing calls and continued flashlight checks in dorms throughout the night.
More immigrants are being incarcerated in Pennsylvania under the Biden administration than in the previous Trump administration. The Shut Down Berks Coalition demands that the Biden administration permanently shut down the Berks County Detention Center by ending the ICE contract so Pennsylvanians can convert the use of the facility for health and human services.
