Youngstown Area Interfaith Prayer Group will host an interfaith prayer vigil today at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown to call attention to immigration detention at NEOCC and other facilities in Ohio.
The group will meet at 1 p.m. in the gravel lot near the private prison. NEOCC is located at 2240 Hubbard Road in Youngstown.
The interfaith prayer vigil is sponsored by Youngstown Area Interfaith Prayer Group and two Cleveland-based organizations, the Interfaith Group Against Hate and the We Are Many, We Are One Coalition.
Youngstown Area Interfaith Prayer Group describes itself as “a grassroots coalition of religious leaders, faith groups and community allies in the Mahoning Valley.” The group advocates for human rights mostly through prayer vigils that call attention to detained immigrants in Northeast Ohio.
Non-U.S. citizens are currently being held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities prior to immigration court proceedings or to ensure deportation if they have final removal orders.
Chris Harris, from the Youngstown Area Interfaith Prayer Group, helped organize today’s vigil at NEOCC. “We stand with detained immigrants in Youngstown. A private prison company is profiting from people who can’t access their own faith. That’s wrong. That’s illegal. We’re demanding better. We are demanding religious and legal access for all detainees at the Youngstown CoreCivic facility. They came seeking safety. They deserve the right to pray. All people deserve the right to due process,” said Harris.
NEOCC is owned by CoreCivic, a privately held, for-profit prison based in Brentwood, Tenn. On its corporate website, CoreCivic describes itself as “the nation’s largest owner of partnership correctional, detention and residential reentry facilities, and one of the largest prison operators in the United States.” NEOCC opened on Youngstown’s northeast side in 1997. NEOCC is one of two detention facilities housing immigrants in the city of Youngstown.
Today’s prayer vigil is the fourth interfaith event this month at immigration detention facilities in Ohio and the second one in Youngstown. On Thursday, Youngstown Area Interfaith Prayer Group met in front of the Mahoning County Justice Center in downtown Youngstown. The vigil was part of a week of statewide interfaith vigils scheduled from May 23-30.
The first prayer vigil occurred on May 23 at the Seneca County Jail in Tiffin, followed by two in Geauga County and Youngstown. Vigils have drawn faith leaders, advocates and members of the community. Events have included prayer, speakers, protest signs and music.
Two other prayer vigils are scheduled today. A 3 p.m. prayer vigil is set for the Butler County Jail in Hamilton County, followed by a 4 p.m. vigil at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio in Stryker in Williams County.
The Butler County Jail event was organized by Butler County Immigrant Justice, the Task Force on United Methodist Immigration Ministries of Ohio, the Interfaith Center at Miami University, Ignite Peace, the Amos Project’s Black Women’s Health Initiative, the Coalition for Concerned Citizens and the Miami Valley Immigration Coalition. The Stryker vigil was organized by the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, advocates and supporters.
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