On September 25, immigration advocates and faith leaders began their journey on a significant five-day pilgrimage to call for the closure of California’s six remaining private Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers. The “2024 Pilgrimage to End Detention” will traverse over 645 miles, beginning in McFarland and ending in San Diego, stopping at key locations including Bakersfield, Adelanto, and Calexico.

Led by the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity and the Dignity Not Detention (DND) Coalition, this annual pilgrimage aims to draw attention to the human impact of immigration detention policies. Building on the success of last year’s “Pilgrimage to HEAL,” the 2024 journey will feature over 50 participants, including nearly 20 formerly detained individuals, faith leaders, and community organizers.

“The pilgrimage comes at a crucial time as people detained at these profit-driven ICE facilities are crying out against the systemic abuses through hunger and labor strikes and the recent filing of a sexual abuse complaint,” the organizations wrote in a media advisory. “The pilgrimage and organizations across the state are calling for people to be freed so they can pursue their immigration cases at home and calling on local communities and members of Congress to take a step to live out values of freedom, fairness, and opportunity by closing these facilities that put lives at risk.”

The participants will engage in six solidarity gatherings and five community forums to raise awareness about the abuses taking place inside detention centers and to advocate for their closure.

During yesterday’s kick-off, pilgrimage leaders were able to get in contact with people who are currently detained and who are undergoing the current hunger strike. 

“ICE and GEO, I refuse to let you see me fall apart,” one detainee said over the phone.

It was announced that on Sunday, September 22, that over 70 people detained at the Golden State Annex began new hunger strikes. On Monday morning, ten additional people detained at Golden State joined the hunger strike, bringing the total number of individuals refusing to eat at the two California facilities to over 80.

“I hope that ICE and GEO will begin to create a dialogue with us detained people and the organizations that support our voice,” said Carlos Vazquez, who has been detained at Desert View for nearly twenty months and is currently on hunger strike. “So that we can begin to bring real change and stop the injustice that is deeply rooted in these detention facilities. We here at Desert View Annex are locked in arms with our detained brothers in Mesa Verde, Golden State Annex and other detention facilities. And we will continue to hold hunger and labor strikes until we see justice and change.”

The pilgrimage will visit facilities in rural areas of California, including the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield and the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, both of which have faced numerous allegations of mistreatment. 

A key focus of the pilgrimage is building on the momentum of the HEAL (Healthy Economies Adapting to Last) initiative, a California budget allocation designed to shift funding away from detention centers and towards sustainable economic development. In 2023, this initiative played a vital role in transitioning resources from ICE facilities to high-road jobs in local communities.

The pilgrimage will conclude in San Diego on September 29, 2024, with a call to action directed at local communities and Members of Congress. Participants are urging policymakers to take meaningful steps towards closing these facilities and to invest in community well-being and freedom for immigrants.

Key Event Dates and Locations:

• McFarland: Pilgrimage Kick-Off – September 25, 5:00 PM, Golden State Modified Community Correctional Facility
• Bakersfield: Solidarity Gathering – September 26, 2:30 PM, Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center
• Adelanto: Solidarity Gathering – September 27, 9:30 AM, Adelanto ICE Processing Center West
• San Diego: Concluding Solidarity Gathering – September 29, 10:00 AM, Otay Mesa Detention Center