Roadside Rally Planned in Huntley to Cancel the ICE Contract

A Roadside Cancel the ICE Contract in McHenry County event in downtown Algonquin Saturday, May 8.  

The Coalition to Cancel the ICE Contract in McHenry County will hold a Roadside Rally this Saturday, May 15 from noon to 1:30 pm along Route 47 at  Deicke Park in Huntley. 

Supporters and participants are invited to bring signs demanding that the McHenry County Board finally vote to end the Federal contract to use the County Jail as an immigrant detention center.  Masking is required and social distancing will be observed. 

This is the final roadside rally before an expected vote by the County Board on Wednesday, May 18. The Huntley vigil is last of a series of events that have taken the struggle to every corner of McHenry County.  Previous rallies have been held in Crystal Lake, Harvard, in Woodstock Square, and Algonquin. 

Next week a Pack the Parking Lot Rally will be held before the Board meeting at the McHenry County Administrative center, 667 Ware Road in Woodstock beginning at 5:30 pm featuring speakers and live music by Chicago-based group Jarochicanos.

The Coalition to Cancel the ICE Contract in McHenry County was formed by concerned organizations committed to immigration justice and ending the ICE contract with McHenry County Jail and includes 30 groups from the county and region.  Over 2000 signatures on a petition to end the contract were recently presented to the Board and 515 individuals now are registered on the Coalition’s Facebook Group. 

For more information visit the Facebook group .

Cancel the ICE Contract in McHenry County Plans Roadside Rally in Algonquin

The Coalition to Cancel the ICE Contract in McHenry County will hold a Roadside Rally this Saturday, May 8 in downtown Algonquin at  Route 62 and Main Street from noon to 1:30 pm. 

Supporters and participants are invited to bring signs demanding that the McHenry County Board finally vote to end the Federal contract to use the County Jail as an immigrant detention center.  Masking is required and social distancing will be observed. 

The McHenry event is one of a series of  events that have taken the struggle to every corner of McHenry County.  The final roadside rally before an expected vote by the County Board on Wednesday, May 18 will be held in Huntley from noon to 1:30 pm on May 15 along Route 47 at  Deicke Park.  

Coalition to Cancel the ICE Contract in McHenry County members and friends hold a banner at a roadside rally in McHenry on April 24.

The Coalition to Cancel the ICE Contract in McHenry County was formed by concerned organizations committed to immigration justice and ending the ICE contract with McHenry County Jail and includes 30 groups from the County and region.  Over 2000 signatures on a petition to end the contract were recently presented to the Board and 482 individuals now are registered on the Coalition’s Facebook Group. 

For more information visit the Facebook Page at  https://www.facebook.com/CancelICEContractMcHenryCounty.

Cancel the ICE Contract Roadside Rally Scheduled in McHenry Today

The Coalition to Cancel the ICE Contract in McHenry County will hold a Road Side Rally today, Saturday, April 24 in McHenry at the intersection of Route 31 (Front Street) and Route 120 (Elm Street) from noon to 1:30 pm. 

Supporters and participants are invited to bring signs demanding that the McHenry County Board finally vote to end the Federal contract to use the County Jail as an immigrant detention center.  Masking is required and social distancing will be observed. 

The McHenry event is one of a series of  that will take the struggle to every corner of McHenry County over the next weeks.  On Saturday, May 1 there will be a rally with speakers on Woodstock Square 2 to 3:30 pm in observance of International Labor Day and the contributions of immigrant workers of all status to this country.  Road side rallies will then be held from noon to 1:30 pm on Saturday May 8 in Algonquin and Saturday May 15 along Route 47 at  Deicke Park in Huntley.

Coalition members are also making comments at upcoming committee meetings and at the Wednesday May 18 County Board Meeting when the issue will likely come to a vote.

 

The Coalition to Cancel the ICE Contract in McHenry County was formed by concerned organizations committed to immigration justice and ending the ICE contract with McHenry County Jail and includes 29 groups from the County and region.  Over 2000 signatures on a petition to end the contract were recently presented to the Board and 424 individuals now are registered on the Coalition’s Facebook Group.  

For more information visit the Facebook Event.

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.