Photo Essay: Rockingham County Commissioners Reject Contract with ICE

After months of persistent advocacy, activists helped sway the swing vote on the Rockingham Board of Commissioners against using the county jail to house ICE detainees.

Every week I arrived at the county commissioners meeting, this crowd grew bigger and bigger!

I had the chance to attend and speak at commissioner meetings for the last several weeks, and I wanted to take a moment to share what this worked looked like from my point-of-view.

It was inspiring to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with my Rockingham neighbors. We decided that enough was enough, and ICE was not going to push our communities around any longer.

People stood out in the cold to ask the commissioners to stop the contract from moving forward.

The effort brought together faith leaders, state elected officials, seasoned activists, and outraged Rockingham residents who showed up, week after week, to oppose an immoral and fiscally irresponsible agreement that would have exposed the county to future liability when ICE is held accountable for their cruelty and many abuses.

State Rep. Zoe Manos made a convincing case to the commissioners.

Watching the friends I’ve made on the campaign trail stand up, one after the other to speak up for common sense and justice in our community gave me a renewed faith in what we can accomplish when we work together.

The view from my seat.

There’s only one way out of the crisis we find ourselves in as a country, and it’s through determined, persistent, and courageous action. Our elected leaders won’t get us out of this mess, so let’s get to work: we’ve got a democracy to save.