Tacoma SDS

Activists protest in front of Northwest Detention Center on Feb. 13. lashing out at the legal limbo those locked up inside of it face, protesters demonstrated outside of Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) on Feb. 13. Activists object to facility conditions, and rally on the second Saturday of each month at noon. Food and beverages are provided to detainee visitors, while protestors picket the facility and provide information about NWDC to the public.

ICE released the much overdue solicitation for the next NWDC contract on 20 April (Hitler's Birthday).

The current contract expires on the 23rd so a modification and extension of the current contract are required for
continued operation until this contract is let to the new operator.

The full solicitation can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/dkgkvp

The Government will conduct a Pre-proposal Conference on April 29, 2009 at 9:00A.M., 24000 Avila Road, Room TBD, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677.

Tim Smith Chairperson of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee Tacoma
will be live on the Jeff Farias show to day at 5PM PST talking about the NWDC, PMR and Tacoma in general. Listen live:

http://www.thejefffariasshow.com/

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE COME!!!

WHO: Bill of Rights Defense Committee- Tacoma and Friends
WHAT: Help us during our annual spring clean-up/EarthDay celebration at our "Adopt-A-Spot" near the Northwest Detention Center 1623 Eeast J Street. This is also the 5th anniversary of the opening of the NWDC.
WHEN: 0900 - 1200 PST (Anything official starts at 1000)
WHERE: http://maps.live.com/?v=2&encType=1&cid=F58AF98DE15E423B!117

WHY: This is our fifth year of maintaing this little part of Tacoma. To know more about why please look here: http://tacomasds.org/node/1083

The City of Tacoma has reasserted its property rights over the traffic strip at 1623 E J Street. The activists over at the Bill of Rights Defense committee won a small victory today in a fight over "adopting" a spot right outside Tacoma's federal immigration lock up. King 5 TV did a piece on it recently.

Tim Smith forwarded me an e-mail exchange he's been having with the city and apparently the disagreement about the property has been resolved. The group will once again be keeping the strategic strip free from litter. Here are some highlights from the exchange:

The operator of the Northwest Detention Center, a private prison for immigrants on the Tacoma tide flats, is suing the City of Tacoma to block the release of documents set to be issued under a public information request. Fircrest-based attorney Joan Mell filed a petition in Pierce County Superior Court on behalf of her client, Texas-based GEO Group Inc., to block the release of building plans, structural data and other documents that GEO Group contends are exempt under federal laws.

Come hear Timothy Smith, Chairperson of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee - Tacoma
speak on the various issues with the Northwest Detention Center.

The Hillside Community Church has long been a supporter of efforts to halt the operations of the NWDC. A short service at 1 PM followed by questions and answers is scheduled on Sunday 08 March 2009.

Hillside Community Church is located at 2508 S 39th. Take S 38th west from mall, turn left on Fife or Pine, turn left on S 39th and go up the hill. Its up behind Border's Books.

TACOMA, Wash. -- If it wasn't for Timothy Smith's intense opposition to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, the state might never have noticed that the private company that owns the facility was violating environmental rules.

The detention center - the federal government's prison-like complex in Tacoma that holds suspected illegal immigrants, often for months - was built near the former site of a coal gasification plant that left behind heavy pollution in the soil.

Some of the key documents can be found here. Note the large number of activist groups targeted in the Puget Sound Region:

http://cryptome.org/rl33616.pdf
http://cryptome.org/spy-protests-02.pdf