We recently received this request from the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Institute Justice Team to write letters to our Senators, Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, thanking them for urging the Obama Administration to close immigrant family detention centers. These centers, which are in fact jails in which mothers and children of all ages are held, are unnecessary, cruel and expensive, and some of us working for immigrants rights are demanding that they be closed. There are other, much less costly and inhumane, ways of keeping track of these desperate families who are fleeing violence in their home countries. Here in Bergen County, CoFiA is aware of a mother and young child who were allowed to come to Palisades Park. She must wear an ankle bracelet and report to ICE in Newark every other week, which is difficult and costly. ... Read more