Immigration issue continues to ignite protests
The imprisonment of 123 asylum seekers at the federal prison in Sheridan has sparked the creation of a new local activist group called ICE Out of Sheridan.
Members will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 18, at McMinnville Cooperative Ministries, 544 N.E. Second St., to discuss their plans to oppose what they consider to be excesses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The meeting is open to anyone who wants to get involved, said Mariam Vargas Corona, the executive director of the McMinnville-based Hispanic advocacy group Unidos Bridging Community.
Unidos is one of several groups represented in the new organization, Corona said.
She added Unidos leaders will take the opportunity of Wednesday's meeting to announce college scholarships for two Latino graduates of McMinnville High School.
Another protest at Southside Park, next to the prison, is planned at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12. Corona said this is part of a series of protests planned on the second Sunday of every month.
It is being organized by Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice and several other participating organizations, including Unidos, Yamhill County Democrats and Progressive Yamhill as well as assorted individual churches.
The first of the planned protests was held July 8 sponsored by McMinnville Cooperative Ministries (a combined Lutheran and Methodist congregation) and the Dashmesh Sikh Temple of Salem.
Corona said the idea for holding Sunday protests at the prison evolved after more than 300 people held a rally at Southside Park in place of their regular church services June 24.
Now that the rallies are becoming monthly events, she said they have been moved to the afternoons so people can still attend morning worship services at their home churches.
Protest activities stem from the transfer of 123 men to the prison in early June as part of the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" policy toward asylum seekers and others allegedly trying to enter the United States illegally.
About50 people protested along the Highway 18 overpass near the prison June 10. A protest at the park June 18 drew 1,245 people. U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden held a joint press conference at the prison June 16 with Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici. This was followed by a protest march by about 200 people in McMinnville June 14 and the June 24 church service/political protest in Sheridan.