MPAC Ramps Up its Interfaith Struggle for Immigration Justice

Saying No to the Prison-Industrial Complex and SB 1070

April 12, 2012


During the past two weeks, MPAC has been increasing its efforts with interfaith partners to advocate for immigration justice in our country. Two major developments are worth noting.

 First, MPAC recently signed on to a letter with 31 other faith-based organizations asking governors in 48 states to reject a recent proposal by a private prison company, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). The proposal seeks to buy $250 million worth of rights to manage local, state and federal prisons, including several immigration detention centers, across the country for up to 20 years. A 2007 Department Justice Inspector General audit found CCA and other private prison companies were responsible for gross mistreatment of prisoners, including immigrants in detention, and mismanagement of facilities.

Second, recently a 2010 media exposé found lobbying and financial ties between some of the nation’s harshest anti-immigration laws and the private prison companies. According to reports, the campaign chairman and policy adviser to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the notorious SB 1070, which allows local and state police to enforce federal immigration laws, is also a lobbyist for CCA. CCA employees and lobbying front groups have also contributed at $61,000 to Brewer’s election campaign.

As such, MPAC has co-signed an amicus brief with 50 other faith-based organizations in support of the federal lawsuit against SB 1070 being argued before the Supreme Court. The brief outlines the inhumane and un-Constitutional impacts of the anti-immigrant, pro-racial profiling law.

Representing a faith community that strongly affirms the notion of "justice for all" and nearly 70 percent of whom come from immigrant families that arrived in America since 1965, MPAC will continue to work in solidarity with those communities and organizations around the country seeking a more just, humane and effective immigration system.

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