The American Dream

One of the current focuses of El Zocalo's work is advocating for the closure of the 10 especially abusive detention centers. They have joined a national campaign with 300 other organizations to work to promote awareness and write letters to local and national legislators.

The 10 dentention centers singled out for closure by activists for immigrants rights are:

Etowah County Detention Center (AL)
Pinal County Jail (AZ)
Houston Processing Center (TX)
Polk County Jail (TX)
Stewart Detention Center (GA)
Irwin County Detention Center (GA)
Hudson County Jail (NJ)
Baker County Jail (FL)
Theo Lacy Jail (CA)
Tri-County Jail (IL).

Detention Watch Network has recorded several stories of cruelty in these centers. Some detainees are denied adequate food and water, some are denied medical care, and some are even beaten or verbally abused by the detention center employees. In their "Expose and Close" reports, they have detailed specific instances of this mistreatment:

At Pinal County Jail complaints regarding sanitation include receiving food on dirty trays, worms found in food, bugs and worms found in the faucets, receiving dirty laundry, and being overcrowded with ten other men in one cell and only one toilet.

At Polk County Detention Facility, one man showed volunteers from the DNC a fungal infection on his scalp and the medicine he was prescribed.  According to the packaging the medicine was intended for female infections.

A man with serious emotional health problems in the Houston Processing Center in Texas was placed in solitary confinement for months at a time, a practice which the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has deemed torture.

El Zocalo is one of the signatories of the special letter written to President Obama asking him to do more to close these centers. They also hosted a prayer vigil in respect and solidarity for those who are detained and to demonstrate that there are people who are staunchly opposed to allowing the violation of human rights.



This gross mistreatment of our fellow man is not what the American dream is all about. People come seeking hope and opportunity, only to be faced with cruelty and shame. This is what El Zocalo Immigrant Resource Center seeks to change. They seek to preserve the beauty of the American dream.

Do you?

El Zócalo: An Introduction

El Zócalo Immigrant Resource Center is a local non profit that does a lot of grassroots work. When I say grassroots, I mean grassroots. They are new enough that they don't even have a physical location. All of their work has been put together through people making connections and volunteering their time to help out. 

A lot of information about their work and different projects they've done can be found on their Facebook page! Looking through their photographs will really show you just how much they do and how much it means to the people that they help.

I first learned about them at a Volunteer Fair that featured several local organizations that were hoping to recruit some support from the local university community. I was drawn to their ideas. The root of their mission is essentially to help these immigrants in any way that they can. They visit detained immigrants, they provide assistance to families, and help them navigate complex paperwork. The whole time, they're also lobbying for meaningful immigration reform. 

Hello, there!

I've started this blog to correspond with an exploration of charitable non-profit organizations and advocacy writing (read:  its actually homework and my professor is making me).

Ideally, this blog will be a way for me to explore and reflect on things that are going on in the world as well as a way to fulfill the criteria of a class assignment. The requirements include reflecting on the research we do for Writing For Change (the class), but I think doing just that certainly limits my audience.

I don't really want to start going off on a rant about the American Red Cross burning donated blankets (Yeah, that happened. They didn't have enough room to store them over the summer. Like, what?) without also explaining that one thing to consider before donating or volunteering your work or writing talents for a non profit is the non profit's ethical practices. While my classmates would know that relates to the study, any one else may not.

That said, any time I'm being crazy, feel free to comment for clarification. Even if you are a classmate and should know better.

Perhaps I should also add a warning that I'm not always the most formal person, so some posts may be less professional sounding and a little more tongue in cheek. I hope. I don't want to be boring!