Press contact:
Kim Propeack, 301-379-7461, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
TWITTER: @CASAdeMaryland
Hundreds Rally to Protect Immigrant Families -Arizona to Maryland - from Separation through Deportation and Displacement
WHAT: MARCH AND RALLY
WHERE: Corner of Greenwood (one block from Flower) and Piney Branch Avenues, Silver Spring, MD 20901
WHEN: SATURDAY, JUNE 30TH, 2012 2:00 P.M.
WHO: Community Residents, CASA de Maryland
Silver Spring, MD (June 30, 2012) – This Saturday, hundreds of residents from metro Maryland will march from Montgomery to Prince George’s County to protest this week’s Supreme Court decision authorizing Arizona’s “Show Me Your Papers” law. Echoes of that law, requiring local police to inquire into immigration status during vehicle stops, have been felt locally as Maryland jurisdictions have implemented the discredited Secure Communities program. Through Secure Communities, families have also been separated as local police officers have arrested people for minor infractions such as broken taillights for the purpose of getting them in the immigration pipeline.
“From Takoma Park, Maryland to Tucson, Arizona, we are marching to protest the racial profiling that is the base of these immigration enforcement practices,” said Florinda DeSemillian, a CASA member and Secure Communities victim. “I will never forget the days I was separated from my family because of Secure Communities and for that reason I will continue to protest for my family and so many other families.”
The march will travel through neighborhoods that are heavily immigrant and wracked by uncertainty. They are targeted for the extensive redevelopment expected to accompany the Purple Line. Residents have been fighting for improved housing conditions, protections for small minority-owned businesses, and greater representation in the planning process. Together with groups such as the Baltimore Regional Initiative Developing Genuine Equality (BRIDGE), Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF), Safe and Sound, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA), Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute, Red Line Now PAC, Good Jobs-Better Baltimore, SEIU 1199, and church congregations from Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County, CASA has formed a Fair Development Coalition to battle for policies that will ensure the construction of the Red Line and Purple Line metro projects in manners that create high quality jobs and stable local communities. Today’s Montgomery to Prince George’s march coincides with a morning celebration in Baltimore heralding the passage of legislation mandating that workforce training accompany transportation spending.
“We struggle to support our families, build our neighborhoods, and create sound, stable communities free from crime or being forced to leave because of rising rents,” said Victor Aldana, a tenant leader in the Bedford Station, an apartment building that faced a foreclosure auction last year. “Facing so many obstacles, our community is coming together to declare that we are here, we have built this place, and we are not leaving,” said Mr. Aldana.
Saturday’s march will be attended by more than 500 participants. For press inquiries, please contact Kim Propeack at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 301-379-7461.
CASA de Maryland works to create a more just society by building power and improving the quality of life in low-income immigrant communities. To become a member, go to www.casademaryland.org/membership
