Tag: politics

  • Palantir/ICE at work: Report on ongoing hunger & labor strike against unjust detention and inhumane conditions at Delaney Hall

    What is happening at the Delaney Hall detention center is a microcosm of everything that is wrong with the company Palantir and why the state of New Jersey should not be investing $130 million in such a company. In addition to Palantir’s tools enabling the AI-generated Gaza genocide and war crimes in Iran and Lebanon, here at home Palantir has a $30 million federal contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to develop “ImmigrationOS.” This AI-powered software platform is the digital backbone of ICE’s tracking and deportation operations.  

    Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ, is a 1,000-bed private for-profit immigrant detention prison operated by The GEO Group for ICE. Last week, a letter to public officials signed by some 300 detainees was smuggled out detailing the inhumane conditions they were subject to, including spoiled and inedible food, lack of medical care, overcrowding, undrinkable water, lack of due process, and other human rights concerns. On Friday, May 22, hundreds of detainees launched a hunger and labor strike to call attention to the inhumane conditions as well as their lack of due process.

    These are their demands:

    1. An immediate in-person meeting with Governor Mikie Sherrill at Delaney Hall to directly observe conditions and hear testimony from detained individuals. 
    2. The immediate release of vulnerable detainees including pregnant women, young people, elderly, and those with serious medical conditions
    3. Meaningful review of immigration cases and habeas filings.
    4. An end to what they describe as coercive pressure to sign deportation or voluntary departure documents.  
    5. Strikers do not want better conditions and treatment. They want FREEDOM!

    Advocates for the detainees and their families organized a vigil, which is ongoing, to support the strikers. Hundreds of supporters responded. This past weekend, Federal ICE agents in riot gear were deployed to push back against demonstrators who blocked the exit routes to prevent detainees from being relocated to unknown detention facilities away from their families. Among the weapons ICE deployed was a Lenco BearCat armored vehicle equipped with a roof-mounted weapon capable of discharging tear gas, pepper spray, or rubber bullets. ICE agents have continued to attack and pepper-spray peaceful demonstrators numerous times. New Jersey Senator Andy Kim was pepper-sprayed as he tried to de-escalate the situation.  Retaliatory violence and abuse have stepped up against the strikers inside and several detainees have been transported by ambulance due to injuries sustained at the hands of guards.

    Here are actions you can take to support the strikers:

    • If you can, please join the 24-hour vigil to support the strikers at Delaney Hall! 

  • Exciting update on Break the Bonds NJ win

    Next steps to work towards Divestment from Israeli genocide: Divest NJ from Palantir.

    We want to announce that thanks to all of our advocacy, in November, we successfully influenced the NJ Division of Investment to not renew $20 million in Israel bonds. To be clear, this is not full divestment. New Jersey still owns $10.1 million in Israel bonds which will mature in 2028. It is also important to say that the NJ decision makers made no public announcement of this decision. We learned through analysis of publicly available investments.

    BUT it is still an important victory that directly impacts Israel’s ability to fund its genocidal practices. We decided not to publicly announce the victory when we learned about it in November because we were concerned about the delicate situation with the transition to a new governor. We’re planning a public announcement about this victory for our movement in the near future.

    Our goal right now is to connect with everyone who signed up for this campaign — like you — to understand your strengths and how we can work together more powerfully moving forward.
    We hope we can still count on your commitment to help us damage Israel’s financial power, to end the occupation, apartheid, and genocide. With the momentum from this win, we’re launching our next divestment push using the same strategy that helped us achieve our first goal. This time, we’re targeting the tech company Palantir, which provides digital surveillance technology to Israel and other repressive institutions around the world — including ICE. The NJ Division of Investment holds a whopping $144 million in Palantir stock.

    There are three ways you can plug in!

    1. Attend and give public comment at meetings of the New Jersey State Investment Council over Zoom. These are where investment decisions get made.
      The next one is Wednesday January 28th at 10:30 AM. Here are some talking points, as well as the registration link. We encourage you to bring in your own story to make your comments even more powerful.
    2. We’re holding monthly campaign meetings where we talk about the strategy, give updates, and share opportunities for action. Please email us back if you would be interested in joining those?
    3. We’re forming a special committee for people who want to be more hands-on — helping grow the campaign and shape strategy. This is for folks who want to go deeper. Let us know if this is something you might want to explore? Thank you so much for being part of this work — it’s really because of people like you that we’ve been able to win so far.

    Please follow us on Instagram @breakthebondsnj and email us at info@breakthebondsnj.org.