Bear Witness- Protest and Food Drive Wednesdays at ICE
December 31 @ 11:30 am – 1:00 pm EST
“We invite you to stand in solidarity outside the ICE Enforcement & Removal Operations Office in Burlington every Wednesday from 11am-1pm. We’re grateful to those who have previously joined us at this facility, and we hope that more will consider attending. Together, we can show love & support for immigrants, express our shame at ICE, and bear witness to the cruel and unconstitutional actions of our government.”
Schedule
11:00-11:30, Welcome chat; orientation for new folks; sign-making for those who need them
11:30-12:30, Stand (or sit) with signs
12:30-1:00, Short walk along the sidewalk on District Ave
The ICE building in Burlington is the detention and enforcement office for New England. Immigrants must come here for appointments. The standouts are peaceful and offer support for those who must show up here. Signs expressing support for immigrants are welcome.
As far as we know, the Mall is continuing to restrict parking to mall shoppers only. We continue to invite you to be creative while we work on a solution to this problem. If you scroll down further in this email, there are some suggested alternative parking possibilities.
There was a small group of counter-protesters again at the Saturday vigil, and we may expect to see counter-protesters more regularly now. The important thing is to not engage with counter-protesters. Please ignore them. We will continue to peacefully exercise our first amendment rights.
A weather reminder for our gatherings during the winter season — by default, we will plan to gather, and ask people to use their own judgment about what conditions are safe for them. Please do be safe. If Burlington schools close due to weather, we will cancel the usual 11am-1pm public gathering and the organizing team will make some other arrangement to safely maintain the continuity of our vigil for that day that does not require the general public.
As usual, this gathering outside ICE is a very targeted action; it’s not the venue for protesting other causes. We all care about many issues, but each Wednesday we come together across differences. Regardless of your views on any other political or social issues, if you support immigrants and their constitutional rights and are committed to nonviolence you are welcome to join us. We have a stash of signs and small U.S. flags that have been donated, and you’re welcome to bring your own signs and U.S. flags if you have them.
Here are some parking options that have been suggested, while we explore a resolution with the mall or other options:
- For those looking to switch to public transportation, one option is the 350 Bus. This runs from Alewife to Burlington Mall Rd. You can park or bike to the Alewife T stop, and the bus leaves Alewife at 10:46am and arrives at District Ave. at 11:15am.
- Alternatively, you can drive to Burlington and park at Simonds Park, at Rev. Andrew’s United Church of Christ (6 Lexington St. Burlington, MA), or at Rabbi Abramson’s Temple Shalom Emeth, 16 Lexington St.,and walk to the 350 bus stop at the intersection of Cambridge St. and Bedford St. That bus leaves at 11:09am and arrives at 11:17am. If you’d like to arrive before 11:00am, there’s a bus that leaves an hour earlier at 10:09am.
- You can park at Wegmans. 53 Third Avenue. Burlington, MA 01803. The Lowell LRTA #14 bus goes by there and stops at Lexington and Mall Rd. That bus is free.
Bearing Witness attendees Tina & Jay continue to collect food pantry donations to help local immigrant families. You can drop off unopened food/health/household items by the tree.
