Immigrant Families Hold Amazon to the Fire for Ties with ICE
Immigrant Families Hold Amazon to the Fire for Ties with ICE
Ahead of Prime Day, New Jersey communities condemn the corporation’s ties to Trump’s deportation machine
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ELIZABETH, NJ — On the eve of the corporation’s two-day Prime Day event, hundreds of immigrant families rallied outside of Amazon’s warehouse in a show of power condemning the corporation’s ties to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Immigrant workers and families delivered a petition with more than 200,000 signatures to Amazon demanding the company cut ties with ICE.
“In a moment when the federal government is caging children in horrendous conditions, Amazon provides key technology and data infrastructure to fuel the Trump administration’s deportation machine and bolstering the work of ICE,” said Sara Cullinane, Director of Make the Road New Jersey.
Immigrant members of Make the Road New Jersey – including families who have been detained by ICE – called for Amazon to end its partnership with ICE and close any federal contracts that support the administration’s anti-immigrant agenda.
“Last year my daughters were detained by ICE. Family separation is destructive and devastating. Amazon must cut its ties with ICE immediately.” said Mario, a member of Make the Road New Jersey.
The rally also made its way across the street to the Elizabeth Detention Center, where more than 300 individuals continue to be held as they face deportation.
“New Jersey’s undocumented immigrants pay nearly $600 million in state and local taxes each year, according to the non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That’s $600 million more than Amazon – owned by the world’s richest man – paid in federal taxes. It’s time for the Garden State to put its values first and say no to Amazon,” said Ana Ramirez, Make the Road NJ.
The group also called out Amazon for its increasingly alarming workers’ rights violations, standing in solidarity with warehouse and tech workers across the country who continue to strike.
“As the Trump administration escalates its campaign against undocumented families in New Jersey and across the nation, it’s time for Amazon to start acting like a responsible corporate citizen. Amazon must stop providing the critical tech infrastructure that supports the Trump administration’s inhumane deportation machine. And as one of the largest and fastest growing employers in the state, Amazon must start treating its warehouse workers with the respect and dignity they deserve,” said Albert Arroyo, Co-Manager of the Laundry, Distribution and Food Service Joint Board, Workers United, SEIU.
The rally paused for a moment to raise fists in solidarity with Amazon workers at a fulfillment center in Shakopee, Minnesota who plan to strike during Prime Day to protest dangerous productivity quotas and the corporations refusal to convert more temporary workers into employees. The workers, many of them Muslim immigrants from East Africa, previously have protested to call attention to their working conditions.
The rally is one of several coordinated actions taking place across the New York tri-state area this weekend, building on a collective grassroots energy working to hold the corporation accountable.
This effort sets the tone looking forward, as the FTC’s starts its investigation of Amazon. Progressive groups are prepared to mobilize around antitrust efforts against the all-too-powerful monopolies and corporations that undermine US democracy, starting with the House Antitrust Subcommittee who will hold a hearing next Tuesday, July 16 on the impact of market power of online platforms.
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Make the Road New Jersey builds the power of immigrant and working class communities in New Jersey to achieve dignity and justice through community organizing, legal and support services, transformative education, and policy innovation.
