"Honestly, I was oblivious to the whole problem — it’s not something we have to deal with here, and I was shocked," said Corey Stepp of Stow, 16, a student at Nashoba Regional High School, after attending an Immigration Vigil in Phoenix, Ariz.
Two of his friends, Emily Jones, 18, newly graduated from Acton Boxborough, and Tyler Plaskon, 15, a Nashoba agreed. "Sheriff Joe’s Tent City is enormous," Tyler said, referring to Joe Arpaio, whose trial for discrimination and harassment began last week in Federal District Court.
An Arizona law lets any official pull someone over or hold them because they look like they might be an immigrant and they’ve detained so many people that the prisons are full. "I’d heard of round-ups and detention centers," Emily said, "but in my town, I don’t think illegal immigration is a huge problem and I had no idea how awful tent city is. They call it a detention center, to distinguish it from a prison, but detainees wear striped clothes and pink socks and are dehumanized in every way."
Corey, Tyler and Emily, whose families are members of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Stow and Acton, joined 3,000 youth and adults in Arizona for General Assembly, their denomination’s national annual meeting.
Though First Parish has been engaged in educational efforts to further dialogue and understanding of the challenges of immigration in MetroWest communities, the vigil was startling for the youth, who saw how broken the whole immigration system is. While children — usually American citizens — are being separated from their parents and people are afraid to call the police when there’s trouble in their own neighborhoods, detainees are being treated inhumanely.
"Everything about it was eye-opening," said Corey. "In the summer it gets to 130 degrees and there’s no air conditioning in the tent. Detainees don’t get enough water, they’re given food with maggots, and are mistreated by the guards."
"Several of our leaders who toured the facility told us a woman who reported sexual abuse by one guard to another was warned not to talk to anyone else or things would get worse," Emily said. "If you’re labeled a trouble maker, they speed up the process so you’re deported faster, with no chance of getting a fair hearing."
"Honestly, I was oblivious to the whole problem — it’s not something we have to deal with here, and I was shocked," said Corey Stepp of Stow, 16, a student at Nashoba Regional High School, after attending an Immigration Vigil in Phoenix, Ariz.
Two of his friends, Emily Jones, 18, newly graduated from Acton Boxborough, and Tyler Plaskon, 15, a Nashoba agreed. "Sheriff Joe’s Tent City is enormous," Tyler said, referring to Joe Arpaio, whose trial for discrimination and harassment began last week in Federal District Court.
An Arizona law lets any official pull someone over or hold them because they look like they might be an immigrant and they’ve detained so many people that the prisons are full. "I’d heard of round-ups and detention centers," Emily said, "but in my town, I don’t think illegal immigration is a huge problem and I had no idea how awful tent city is. They call it a detention center, to distinguish it from a prison, but detainees wear striped clothes and pink socks and are dehumanized in every way."
Corey, Tyler and Emily, whose families are members of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Stow and Acton, joined 3,000 youth and adults in Arizona for General Assembly, their denomination’s national annual meeting.
Though First Parish has been engaged in educational efforts to further dialogue and understanding of the challenges of immigration in MetroWest communities, the vigil was startling for the youth, who saw how broken the whole immigration system is. While children — usually American citizens — are being separated from their parents and people are afraid to call the police when there’s trouble in their own neighborhoods, detainees are being treated inhumanely.
"Everything about it was eye-opening," said Corey. "In the summer it gets to 130 degrees and there’s no air conditioning in the tent. Detainees don’t get enough water, they’re given food with maggots, and are mistreated by the guards."
"Several of our leaders who toured the facility told us a woman who reported sexual abuse by one guard to another was warned not to talk to anyone else or things would get worse," Emily said. "If you’re labeled a trouble maker, they speed up the process so you’re deported faster, with no chance of getting a fair hearing."
The U.S. detains 280,000 people a year, at an annual cost of $1.2 billion to taxpayers. Much of that money goes to private contractors. "This is not something we ever talk about here," said Corey. "In spite of all we’ve been told in history classes about the end of segregation and Jim Crow laws since the 1960’s, today states are passing laws that condone racial profiling."
"No matter what you think about immigration," Emily said, "this is no way to treat a human being." Now the three teens find themselves wondering about the lives of some of the people who clean windows, wash dishes at local pizza places, paint houses, cut lawns in their own neighborhoods, understanding that everyone should be thankful there is no Sheriff Joe in Massachusetts.
Margot Welch is active in First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Stow and Acton.
