Indiana Gazette: “‘Pilgrimage’ to ICE detention center has three west-central PA stops”

Frontline Dignity was featured in the following Indiana Gazette article: “‘Pilgrimage’ to ICE detention center has three west-central PA stops”

From the article:

Protesters opposed to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity at a center in eastern Clearfield County are planning an eight-day “public pilgrimage and fundraising campaign” from Pittsburgh to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, via Apollo, Indiana and Northern Cambria.

“Frontline on Foot: The Way to Moshannon” began early Sunday at the ICE office on Pittsburgh’s South Side, led by Frontline Dignity, a self-styled “community-rooted organization committed to defending the dignity and safety of every neighbor on the frontlines of federal immigration enforcement.”

On its website, Frontline Dignity lists itself as “a fiscally sponsored project of The Global Switchboard,” which claims on its website to support “grassroots collaborations for human rights in the Pittsburgh region.”

Since launching earlier this year, Frontline Dignity said it has trained and mobilized more than 1,000 volunteers and built a growing rapid response network across the region. Its officials said their organization supports communities by documenting enforcement activity, helping families navigate crisis, and strengthening local readiness in moments of fear and uncertainty.

Their procession was scheduled to reach Monroeville by Sunday night, then Apollo during the day Monday. On Tuesday, the campaign is scheduled to reach downtown Indiana.

In a Saturday news release, Frontline Dignity officials said the purpose was “to draw attention to immigration detention, the crisis of dignity facing immigrant communities, and the urgent need for solidarity, organizing, and action across Pennsylvania.”

One goal of the protest is to persuade the Clearfield County Commissioners to end their contract with ICE and a private prison corporation operating the Moshannon Valley center, located between Philipsburg and Morrisdale.

Their target is described as the largest ICE detention facility in the Northeast, reportedly holding some 1,800 individuals. Moshannon Valley Processing Center is operated by The GEO Group, a private for-profit prison corporation.

“According to publicly available federal contract data,” Frontline Dignity organizers said, “the company receives more than $2 million per month to operate the facility, making Moshannon not only a site of detention, but part of a broader system in which incarceration and immigration enforcement generate profit.”

On its website, GEO Group describes itself as “committed to providing leading, evidence-based rehabilitation programs to individuals while in-custody and post-release into the community through the GEO Continuum of Care. GEO’s diversified services platform provides unique capabilities for the delivery of educational and vocational programs, cognitive behavioral and substance abuse treatment, and faith-based services. The GEO Continuum of Care is enhanced rehabilitation and reentry programming, including cognitive behavioral treatment, integrated with post–release support services.”

The GEO Group website said, “It is the mission of the Moshannon Valley Processing Center to provide the highest level of service to our client; our primary objective being to ensure the safety of the community, staff and those entrusted into our custody. This mission is accomplished through well-selected, trained, professional staff that exhibit dedication, integrity, responsibility, ethical conduct and pride in their daily lives.”

GEO went on to say of those working there, “as an employee of the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, you are the most valuable and important resource of this agency. Neither this agency nor this facility can perform their vital public mission for the citizens of Pennsylvania without the professional and dedicated service of our employees.”

At a “No Kings” rally March 28 in DuBois, Bobbi Erickson, co-founder of a nonprofit called Indivisible: Mayday, read written testimonies from detainees at Moshannon Valley, including one woman who wrote, “The conditions are inhumane. We are not being treated as people. This is not a detention center where you are waiting for a trial date or resolution of a case. This is a concentration camp. We haven’t committed any crimes, we are not criminals. We are just women, often the sole providers for our children, our parents, our families, and we were torn from them for what? To be treated worse than animals.”

The protest then is to reach Northern Cambria Wednesday and Loretto Thursday, before moving on to Tyrone Friday and Osceola Mills Saturday. The protest is scheduled to reach the center outside Philipsburg Sunday.

Beyond Indiana, tentative activity is slated for 3 p.m. Saturday at a location to be announced, with “a featured guest” expected to join the walk for approximately one hour between Tyrone and Osceola Mills.

A closing “press conference” is slated for noon Sunday outside the Moshannon Valley center, during which organizers say there will be “remarks, reflection, and calls to action around detention, dignity, and immigrant solidarity.”

View the full article on the Indiana Gazette