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Aug 27, 20
Filed under: Announcement, Incarceration, Indigenous
As Hurricane Laura touches down, please participate in the following phone-zap in support of prisoners and detainees. Donate to hurricane commissary and support fund.
Updates:
- There are 5 facilities in Lake Charles which have been heavily impacted. We are trying to get info on where people may have been evacuated to, and who may have been left behind. Call this number to ask questions and let us know how it goes: (337) 491-3800
There is also a chemical plant fire in Lake Charles that we are monitoring.
- In Texas, parts of USP Beaumont that were not evacuated are experiencing power outages and are now running on generators.
- In Louisiana, we heard from Comrade Malik at USP Pollock that the storm did not hit them.
Hurricane Laura has made landfall as a record breaking Category 4 hurricane. In Louisiana and Texas 50,000+ people behind prison bars lie directly in it’s path with no ability to evacuate.
We need your help applying pressure to ensure the horrors that happened at FCI Beaumont during Hurricane Harvey don’t happen again. Phone zaps have proved effective in the past when we forced North Carolina and Virginia to evacuate prisons ahead of Hurricane Florence!
Demands:
- MASS RELEASE NOW → For areas not yet impacted, allow incarcerated people to be released to their family members when possible. Start with the elderly and medically compromised.
- EVACUATE FACILITIES IN EVAC ZONES IN THE MOST COVID SAFE MANNER POSSIBLE → If people are being moved to another facility, make sure they are quarantined away from the population for at least 2 weeks.
- STOCKPILE –> Facilities not yet in evacuation zones or unable to evacuate must stockpile food, water, medicine, and sanitation supplies.
When you get a response tweet @FightXPrisons!
Phone numbers aren’t working? Tweet us or e-mail with number updates too!
Keep them talking, ask questions, get info. If you can, tell them you’re recording the phone call, and email it to us. If it turns out they’re lying, we’ll have voice-recorded evidence. (Email [email protected] and include “Marco/Laura” and Department you called in email title)!
ALSO:
We don’t trust ANY Department of Corrections. Per Jailhouse Lawyers Speak’s advice, “If you know any prisoners in this storm path, it’s important to tell them to fill up any containers or bags with water NOW!! Prisons are notorious for not giving adequate drinking water to prisoners if any at all after the water is contaminated.”
CALL SCRIPT:
“Hello, I am calling to demand you take immediate action to protect incarecerated people during hurricane Marco and Laura. To ensure the safety of people inside you must initiate a mass release process, starting with the medically vulnerable. Incarcerated people should be released to their families! Facilities in evac zones must be evacuated in a COVID safe manner. This means quarantining for 2 weeks and ensuring all incacerated people have access to masks and sanitation supplies. Finally, for all facilities not yet in evacuation zones, you must begin stockpiling supplies, including: food, water, medicine, and sanitation supplies.”
TIPS FOR MAKING CALLS:
- Be firm but polite, insist on speaking to the person you are calling for
- Leave a message if no one answers
- Refuse to give any information that you may be uncomfortable sharing with the state (e.g. full legal name, organizational affiliation, etc.)
- Send any new information gathered from calls to [email protected] or Tweet @FightXPrisons
WHO TO CALL:
CALCASIEU SHERIFF’S PRISON:
- (337) 491-3800
ICE Immigrant Detention Centers: Tweet at- @ICEgov
Dallas U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement:
- (214) 424-7800
Demand Immediate Evacuation of All Immigrant Detainees
Louisiana, New Orleans Field Office:
- 504-599-7800
Louisiana Governor: twitter.com/LouisianaGov
- 225 342 7015
Federal Bureau of Prisons: Tweet at- @TheJusticeDept
South Central Regional Office Located in Grand Prarie, TX:
- 972-730-8600 (press 9 for Safety)
