By Anonymous
12/10/21
Anarchist criminology recognizes that harm against peaceful society is criminal and that criminality takes place in both legal and illegal forms. The biggest criminal is the State, and the bulk of the harm against peaceful society that it carries out is Legal Crime.
A few years ago in Chicago some autonomists gathered about the need to liberate child prisoners from what is essentially legal child trafficking being carried out by the local nonprofit called Heartland Alliance. Heartland Alliance uses various US laws to rip migrant children away from their families.
The narrative Heartland tries to create is that the profile of every child it imprisons is that they are either alone or are coming from a dangerous environment, which certainly doesn’t reflect the reality of most of the migrant children Heartland incarcerates.
These children can be with their families (Facebook link of a short video).[1]
Heartland receives a lot of money for every bed filled, just like any prison profiteer in the USA does. So the drive for revenue, even by a nonprofit, is what truly dictates the forcible ripping of children away from their family across localities and states.
When these autonomists began to raise the issue, some sympathetic neighbors thought the effort was impossible: Heartland is deeply connected to the local and state elite; its public relations machine is well-funded; and the gatekeeping role Heartland is “given” to manage, or rather, impose scarcity of resources in Chicago makes it too beloved to so many naive local residents.
Nevertheless, the autonomists pushed forward. At first there were only 5-10 people who supported and agreed that what Heartland Alliance does is wrong. But the numbers of people who understand this criminality for what it is has grown enormously. By year two it was very apparent the dynamic Heartland propaganda machine was subvertible.
Numerous other orgs have joined since in supporting the liberation of these child prisoners. To stay connected about what’s going on from an autonomist perspective, be sure to connect with these Chicago groups (these are Facebook links): Chicago Anti Detention Network[2] and Rogers Park Solidarity Network[3].
Interestingly, in Chicago it appears that the most opposition to criticism of Heartland’s criminality or such efforts to support the children has not come from so-called local “conservatives”. It’s often been “liberals”, from Heartland staff, the staff of partnering orgs of Heartland, to people in the street. Though I suspect that if Heartland existed in a town that was majority conservative, the local opposition would be mostly conservative.
There is certainly a need for regional collaboration since it appears that if Chicagoans succeed in shutting down the prisons in Chicago, Heartland will move them to the suburbs and beyond. Plus, at least two of these prisons have been known to be far from the Chicago center.
Heartland is not the only entity in the USA doing this legal child trafficking. These other entities have been noted in engaging in this type of work, though there may be more,
Southwest Key (Austin, TX)
BCFS Health and Human Services (San Antonio, TX)
Comprehenvise Health Services (Cape Canaveral, FL)
Cayuga Centers (Auburn, NY)
If you know anyone in these cities, encourage them to get involved in fighting for the children there because there is a need to expand this fight across the country. Fortunately, whoever steps up in these cities will likely have the guidance and support of Chicagoan abolitionists of Chicago Anti Detention Network in the least since these compañerxs have a history of wanting to help others in other cities fight these battles on local turf.
The demonstrations and protests local abolitionists have had for these children are among the most meaningful such actions one can do. This is because these children are extremely alone and scared and have suicidal ideation from being torn away from their family. Like in any prison, hope becomes lost and that is a specific type of torture. But demonstrations that awaken children to their value and the values of Liberty and Rebellion soothe the pain for these youth. This is a worthy video of a former detainee of Heartland speaking to this (Facebook link): https://www.facebook.com/ChiAntiDetention/videos/614311255824971
Even if all someone can do is a demonstration to soothe the pain and give hope, then you will have done something meaningful.
If you’re in the region, connect your affinity groups or local organizations with such efforts. Perhaps some people are not a match, but if they are, that would be very important and worth the try.
If you’re in other parts of the country, help build such liberation efforts where these other child prisons are. Get relatives and friends to connect and connect them with the Chicago abolitionists.
Sources
[1] https://www.facebook.com/ChiAntiDetention/videos/293988022626943