Prior to our protest at the fort, we attended an interfaith vigil at Lawton Heights United Methodist Church in Lawton. The painful history of Fort Sill as a detainment center of both Native Americans and Japanese was related, and now it is being considered as a children’s detention center for recent immigrants. The names of 34 children who died while in US custody were read, and posters of them were circulated. It is much harder to ignore the situation when one is aware of all those who, like Wilmer, sacrificed their lives. [Note: Probably due to protests, Ft. Sill has been dropped from the list of potential detention centers.]
Unfortunately, with the recent ICE raids in Mississippi, more parents are being torn from their children. When will it stop!?