Each year when "Hispanic Heritage Month" rolls around Sept 15 to Oct.15 we have the opportunity to spotlight and celebrate the many cultures that make up the Hispanic, or Latino, or Latinx community, (All terms for us that we are not universally in agreement with using. ¿Que sera, sera?). Certainly, we have a lot to celebrate, our varied and diverse communities all contain a richness of heritage, community, and vibrant culture that is reflected in the arts that we create, our traditional crafts, the music that we make, our passionate and joyful dance, and the delicious and varied traditional foods that we produce.

Meeting virtually on November 14, elected delegates to the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) unanimously endorsed the Shut Down Berks Coalition. The coalition is a group of organizations and individuals demanding the closure of the Berks County Family Detention Center (BCRC) in PA and an end to the practice of imprisoning immigrant families in the U.S.

The endorsement was requested by Jay Walker (Allegheny County), a member of the GPPA Steering Committee.

• By Jenny Isaacs

PHILADELPHIA – Since 2019, the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) has been on record calling for the closing of the Berks County Detention Center. Many people were shocked to learn that Berks had been housing immigrant families (including children) since 2014. They were unaware that family detention and mass deportation as tools of immigration enforcement did not originate with the Trump administration.

Over 300,000 immigrants were deported in Biden’s first 100 days — a rate of deportations higher than any period under the openly anti-immigrant Donald Trump or under the “Deporter-in-Chief,” Barack Obama.

The deportation machine of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues unabated. ICE and CBP defied Biden’s 100-day moratorium on deportations. Predictably, these agencies targeted Black and Latino immigrants for deportation.

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) -- More than 200 people gathered Wednesday, waving signs and chanting things like, "Families belong together," all in the hopes their message would ring clear with Congressman Morgan Griffith of Virginia's 9th District.

"We're here because this is our Congressman's office, who is completely unavailable," said demonstration participant Marian Mollin. "Doesn't do town halls, doesn't speak to us, so this is our way to speak to him, and therefore, the federal government."

On June 28th, families, advocates, and allies will rally in the park across the street from the Brownsville Federal Court, where immigrants are being prosecuted en masse for crossing the border into the United States, and then separated from their children. There are families that are legally seeking asylum that will have their children taken from them. Enough is enough!

Green Party members from across Texas will be traveling to Brownsville, Texas.

Portland, OR – The Green Party of Portland condemns the actions of the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for separating families in the name of making our country "great." The removal of children from their parents is traumatic, heartless, and immoral. Despite President Trump's assertions, this is not the way.

Despite the assertions of Democrats, they too have a shameful history of supporting deportations. We support the #OccupyICE action and any nonviolent means of resistance against ICE facilities in our community and across the United States.

RICHMOND, VA -- The Green Party of Virginia is appalled by the treatment of immigrant children at Health and Human Services (HHS) centers across the country. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in conjunction with Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Department of Justice (DOJ), has forcibly taken nearly 2,000 children from their parents in the last several months. Despite President Trump’s statements, there is no law forcing the President or any executive agency to remove children from the custody of their parents.

We are witnessing the separation of families at our borders. Babies are being taken away from their parents. We all know that America has a history of separating families. This has to stop.

Here in Texas, there are families that are legally seeking asylum only to have their children ripped from them and in some cases their children are detained thousands of miles from their families.

Salt Lake City, Utah - The Green Party of Utah (GPUT) is denouncing the U.S. Federal Government’s practice of separating children from their immigrant families and is demanding the dismantling of ICE to put an immediate halt on inhumane policies.

The Green Party Platform on Immigration stands firmly for social justice for all those living in this country regardless of their immigration status. Calling for humane policy and laws are consistent with Green Values, and the nation’s values.