More than two dozen North Texas faith leaders are speaking out in opposition to a proposed U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement detention facility in Hutchins.
While ICE officials have been silent in confirming that such a plan exists, The Washington Post recently reported that ICE is considering converting a warehouse in Hutchins that would house 9,500 detainees.
The group on Friday expressed a call to action for residents and religious leaders in Dallas County to reach out to lawmakers, to urge them to not support "the warehousing of thousands of migrants in inhumane conditions in our backyard.”
"We should not be housing human beings in warehouses meant for packages," said Eric Folkerth, lead pastor of the Kessler Park United Methodist Church, where the press conference was held.
Carl Sherman, a former Hutchins city manager and former state representative for Texas District 109, which includes Hutchins, spoke about the impact the facility would have on the community.
"I can tell you that Hutchins does not have the infrastructure, does not the water supply, or the sewage infrastructure to sustain and accommodate the more than doubling of its current population by 150%,” Sherman said.
He and other speakers asked community members to support Hutchins residents and leaders — including Mayor Mario Vasquez — who do not want the ICE detention facility in their city.
“Local leaders must be empowered to plan and approve projects in their communities," Sherman said. “If you just can't imagine that it would ever happen in your home, your small town like Hutchins could be the next city, the next community that faces this."
Meanwhile, two local faith leaders — Mara Richards Bim, Justice and Advocacy Fellow at the Royal Lane Baptist Church, and T.J. Fitzgerald, reverend of the First Unitarian Church of Dallas — were in Minneapolis and St. Paul Friday as part of a larger gathering to oppose ICE activity in Minnesota. They were there to meet with hundreds of leaders from around the country.
Dallas Rabbi Nancy Kasten said it’s important to work past ideological differences to plan, collaborate and cooperate.
“We in Dallas must work together to meet the moment when, not if, it arrives in our streets and at our doorsteps,” she said.
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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