Free the Peep is a Family Friendly Event to End the ICE Contract in McHenry County

The Coalition to Cancel the ICE Contract in McHenry County will host a family friendly Easter themed event in Harvard, the city with McHenry County’s largest Latinx community, this Saturday, March 27 from 2-3:30 pm at Harmilda the Cow Plaza by 77 N. Ayers Street downtown.  Free the Peep/Libera los Peeps will be a bi-lingual event.

Peeps are the familiar marshmallow candies associated with children’s Easter baskets.  At the event they will also stand for immigrant detainees held in Federal custody at McHenry County Jail.  Easter represents a season of rebirth and hope.  Detainees hope that they might be reborn to freedom and hope and reunited with their families.

Free the Peep is a family oriented activity for children with secret codes and messages. There will be candy involved. Covid-19 measures will be taken and the candy is being handled appropriately before and during the event. Participants are also asked to wear masks and keep a safe distance.

Free the Peep will be held at Harmilda the Cow Plaza in downtown Harvard.

Speakers will address the impact of fear of ICE and detention on families and the community and describe the campaign of the Coalition to Cancel to persuade the County Board to end the month-to-month contract for the facility.  The community will be offered ways to contact with their County Board members and other public officials urging them to act on a proposal that has been stalled in the Finance Committee for months.

The Coalition to Cancel the ICE Contract in McHenry County, which represents 27 immigrant advocacy groups, social justice groups, organizations, non-profits, and congregations throughout Illinois, seeks justice for all undocumented immigrants by demanding County Board members cancel the month-to-month contract it has maintained for over a decade. We continue to urge the Board to release the numbers, as the agreement has been operating without clear financial knowledge of costs and revenue for years. Our community understands that having an ICE detention center terrorizes those who live under its shadow of fear and oppression.

The Coalition’s demands for justice are not only local, they are supported by regional and national organizations, as immigrants are detained and transferred throughout our nation. The Woodstock ICE detention center houses immigrants from the surrounding suburbs as well as from out of state, making us part of the national fight.

The Harvard event is one of a series of programs that will take the struggle to every corner of McHenry County.

Visit the Facebook Event for more information and to register attendance.