About 100 people participated in a vigil at a local detention center which detains undocumented immigrant families, to speak out against family separation and advocate for shutting down the center.
Sixteen students from St. Joe’s, as well as students from Villanova University, Cabrini College and La Salle University, attended the vigil on Nov. 11 at the Berks County Residential Center.
Since 2016, Shut Down Berks Interfaith Witness and Shut Down Berks Coalition have hosted monthly vigils outside of the center. This was the first time St. Joe’s students participated in one of those vigils.
The group of St. Joe’s participants was organized by members of the SJU Refugee and Immigrant Working Group. The planning committee has five staff and faculty members, all of whom attended.
“I honestly had no idea there was a detention center an hour away from campus, and when I heard about this, it angered me,” Jamie Deni ’20 said. “As a Jesuit university, we recognize that we should care for each whole person and I think that’s the really big reason our university and students should take action.”
The Berks County Residential Center, often referred to as the Berks County Detention Center, has been operating in Lessport, Pennsylvania, since 2001. It was the first residential center to open in the country and since its establishment, two more centers were opened in Texas. The Berks County Residential Center is operated through a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Not many Pennsylvanians know that the center still exists, and it basically is in our backyard, and that Pennsylvanians are basically complicit in helping these families be detained when they are just trying to come here for a better life,” said John Michael Cotignola-Pickens, one of the liaisons for the vigil. “They are coming here for a better life and we then detain them.”
The vigil began with a prayer and continued with different calls for action from participants and organizers, including songs and testimonials, all of which were said in both English and Spanish.
Julian Zuzarte ’18 was in town for the weekend and decided to attend the vigil. He was one of the participants who spoke in Spanish.
“Mission accomplished would be to have the Berks center shut down,” Zuzarte said. “I hope we gain more support, campus-wide and city-wide.”
Organizers recommended participants call their legislators and the governor’s office and ask for the center to be shut down.
One of the reasons participants want the center shut down is because of reports of mistreatment within the center. One example, according to Berks County court documents, in 2016, a 19-year-old detained woman was sexually assaulted by an employee at the Berks County Residential Center.
Tonya Wenger ’95, one of the organizers of the vigil, brought the group together at the end of the event to issue a call to action, asking people to call Gov. Tom Wolf and request an emergency removal order to have the center shut down.
“It’s important to be educated and give support to the families,” Wenger said. “Knowing there’s a presence of people who care about them and support them in their effort to get safety, get help and live their life.”
Organizers also spent 15 minutes answering questions from participants in an effort to engage and inform people about next steps.
“It may not look like a prison, and it’s called the Berks County Residential Center, but I want everyone to leave knowing that these families aren’t free and that they need to be free,” Cotignola-Pickens said.
