JASC Joins Protest To Say "Never Again"

Japanese American former incarcerees standing up for immigrant rights at the
Fort Sill concentration camp in Oklahoma in June 2019.

Over 200 Asian American Chicagoans, including representatives from the Japanese American Service Committee at 4427 North Clark, joined with 14 other community organizations, churches, temples, and elected officials for a rally downtown early Saturday. They held signs saying “NEVER AGAIN IS NOW,” “CLOSE THE CAMPS,” and “END DETENTIONS.” After hearing speakers from a variety of organizations, they joined the larger march and rally that began at Daley Plaza.

"We in the Japanese American community have always said NEVER AGAIN:

• Never Again to the concentration camps that held 120,000 Japanese Americans in World War II.  
• Never Again to separating families across states or across borders.
• Never Again to the mass incarceration and mass surveillance of any community. 

But the violation of civil and human rights is happening and it IS happening NOW. This Saturday, Japanese American and Asian American communities say enough is enough!

In 2019 we continue to see the persecution of migrants and asylum seekers, the separation of families at the border, a rampant increase in deportations, the ongoing Muslim Ban, and the incarceration of children and asylum seekers in abusive and unsafe conditions in modern-day concentration camps.

Even further, Fort Sill in Oklahoma, which served as a Japanese American incarceration site during World War II is being used to incarcerate migrant children once again. We gather to express our outrage at these policies, to hear from impacted Asian American communities, and to call on all communities of conscience to stand up in opposition to these policies.

Why? To show the unified voice of the Japanese American and Asian American communities in opposition to these policies, and to fight for the reunification of families, an end to indefinite detentions, and civil and human rights for all."