The following letter was sent to the Suffolk City Council by Leslie Rinaldi on behalf of the Suffolk Democratic Committee.  The Suffolk Democratic Committee is asking Suffolk residents to show their support with their signatures.   Thank you

To The Honorable Members of the Suffolk City Council:

Mr. Mike Duman, Mayor
Mr. Lue Ward, Vice Mayor
Mr. Leroy Bennett
Ms. Shelly Butler-Barlow
Ms. Ebony Wright
Mr. John Rector
Mr. Timothy Johnson
Mr. LeOtis Williams

Dear Suffolk City Council Members,

The members of the Suffolk Democratic Committee (SDC), a local organization that
represents all the Democratic voters in the City of Suffolk, are submitting this letter to
request that Suffolk City Council take whatever action you can to prevent any acquisition or
operation of any facilities in the City of Suffolk by the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) and/or the US Immigration and Customs and Enforcement.

Across the nation, DHS, or more specifically, ICE, is in the process of acquiring large
warehouses to develop into Detention Centers. As a body, we vehemently oppose the
possibility of any facility or warehouse in Suffolk being used by ICE as a detention center of
any kind. We are opposed to it on moral grounds. Mass detention and deportation are
"inhuman policies" that violate fundamental human rights, specifically the right to humane
treatment and due process. The manner in which ICE conducts these raids and arrests are
often unconstitutional. We have noted that a substantial number of detainees have been
actual US Citizens. Many have been brutalized, unlawfully detained, and some even
murdered in ICE’s mass roundups The history of the Detention Centers has shown them to
be poorly supervised, overcrowded, and frequently do not meet minimum correctional
facility standards of care, and have too many custodial deaths.

Our members know through association with neighbors and friends that we are not alone in
our desire to not want to see these abuses marring the reputation of our fair City, nor do we
want to see our law-abiding neighbors, whether or not they are illegally in this country,
subjected to these brutal and heinous human roundups and equally brutal detentions.

Additionally, we are concerned that should a large warehouse get converted to an ICE
Detention Center, the typical prisoner population of about 8,000 would put an unwarranted
burden on our resources and utilities: the costs of water, electricity, sewage, health care,
law enforcement, and roads would all rise, placing an unnecessary burden on our existing
residents, and preclude more desirable development within our City that could potentially
bring our residence better jobs and nicer neighborhoods.

We appreciate your consideration, and respectfully request you remember our opposition
to ICE Detention in Suffolk.

With regards,
Leslie Rinaldi
Executive Chair for the SDC