Tsuru for Solidarity made the following announcement on Tuesday.
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Due to COVID-19, for health and safety reasons, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the June 5-7tNational Pilgrimage to Close the Camps in Washington, D.C. We also are postponing the Caravan to Close the Camps.
Postponement does not mean we will fall silent. Prison camps are places where people are acutely vulnerable to health complications and disease outbreaks — something we know all too well from the World War II WRA concentration camps. In this context, we are gravely concerned how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact people in ICE custody.
Tsuru for Solidarity is therefore joining Detention Watch Network and other organizations to call for ICE to take immediate steps to protect the health and safety of immigrants during this pandemic, including by ending current detention of immigrants and ceasing local ICE enforcement operations.
The dates we had planned to march in D.C., June 5-6, 2020, will be a national weekend of physically distanced but socially unified Tsuru for Solidarity actions across the country. We are also developing additional regional and national strategies to deepen and expand our work to close the camps and support directly affected communities. Please stay tuned for more information about our revised plans.
For those who have already paid registration fees, you will receive a full refund of your registration fee unless you choose to convert it into a donation, as described below. If you registered by EventBrite, a credit will be issued back to your original payment method (less the additional $11 fee collected by EventBrite) by May 1, 2020. For those who paid by check, we will reissue a check for your registration fee.
Alternatively, you may choose to convert your registration fee into a donation to support Tsuru for Solidarity’s ongoing work and help us cover expenses from this unexpected postponement by filling in the form here by March 31. For any questions, email tsuruforsolidarity@gmail.com.
Answers to additional logistical questions will shortly be posted in the “Frequently Asked Questions” on the Pilgrimage to Close the Camps page.
Finally, please know that your donations and contributions toward building Tsuru for Solidarity’s community are important and deeply appreciated. We are grateful for your generosity of spirit, time, activism, and folding of cranes to support immigrant and refugee communities today.
As one of our supporters wrote to us, “COVID-19 is forcing everyone to acknowledge on some level our shared fate, our mutual responsibilities and our need for a safe, humane world.”
In solidarity and with our sincere wishes for everyone’s health and safety,