We are calling a demonstration outside Communications House in London, in solidarity with a Day of Action in the USA, following massive protests against proposed new laws which would criminalise all undocumented people and build a wall on the Mexico-US border, like Israel’s apartheid wall on annexed Palestinian land. 1-2 million people demonstrated in LA, and tens of thousands across the country including Arizona, Ohio. Wisconsin. Several cities have passed resolutions resisting criminalisation of immigrants or offered themselves as immigrant sanctuaries if the bill eve becomes law. In LA thousands of students who walked out of schools.

Communications House is the office where hundreds of asylum seekers are forced to sign on with the authorities daily, weekly or monthly, and where people are snatched and taken to detention. One woman describes the terror she has to submit to: I was told to bring my baby. They are sadistic and know that I am more scared for my baby than for myself. They want me to be fearful that I could detained at any time. They take your possessions as if you are going to prison, including your phone so you can’t get help. Before I sign on, I can’t sleep and feel sick because I don know if this will be the time when I won’t come back.

A “Bleak House” for Our Times, Legal Action for Women’s research documents the experiences of women detained in Yarl’s Wood Removal Centre, many of whom went on hunger strike. 50% had suffered rape and other sexual violence, 57% had no legal representation. The findings explode the myth that most asylum seekers are “bogus”, expose conditions in Yarl’s Wood, and demonstrate that most of those deemed “bogus” have never had a chance to present their case.

The event at Communications House is part of an international day of action against immigration detention, including actions in Australia and in Europe, which the Barbed Wire network is co-ordinating in the UK  info@barbedwirebritain.org.uk