Down in Miami, Florida, the Krome Detention Facility has been under fire for it’s cruel living conditions, such as lack of food and overcrowding (NPR). On November 23, a demonstration was organized by the Sunrise Movement to protest this poor treatment of immigrants and demand the closure of the facility.
What happened outside the Krome Detention Facility on November 23 began with a collective of youth organizers determined to bring a system of hidden violence into public view. They arrived knowing exactly where they stood: in opposition to a federal agency built to detain, silence, and disappear people.
Protesters linked arms in a blockade, sang through tension, and braced themselves for what they already knew was coming. ICE had caught wind of the action long before anyone arrived; officers lingered around the perimeter, waiting, watching, calculating. Even in the moments that were outwardly calm, there was a pressure in the air—the kind that precedes a rupture.
For many of the protesters, the risk of arrest wasn’t a deterrent. It was an accepted cost of showing up for people who don’t get the chance to defend themselves. They weren’t there for symbolism. They were there to disrupt, to witness, and to force attention toward a system built to operate without scrutiny…