Japanese Americans Rally in Solidarity with Immigrants

On July 21, 2025, several hundred people gathered at Don Biddle Park to rally alongside Japanese Americans calling for an end to immigration detention and to speak against the proposed reopening of FCI Dublin. The shuttered federal corrections facility was notorious for rampant sexual abuse and lack of medical care for the women serving time there. It was closed in 2024 after a series of reports and an FBI raid led to 10 correctional officers being charged for sex crimes, with 7 already convicted.

Multiple members of the Detention Watch Network spoke to the crowd, encouraging them to show up for community defense, prisoner support, and the abolition of ICE. Japanese Americans whose family members had been interned during World War II put faces to the horrific experiences they say mirror what is happening in the country today. Signs comparing those internment camps to CECOT and federal detention facilities were held up the entire time, with some attendees wearing patches naming the camps that held their families. Tsuru, or paper cranes, were hung to demonstrate solidarity and community. Koyasan Kongo Gumi, a drum ensemble out of Sacramento, performed for the crowd.

The event was organized by Tsuru for Solidarity and the ICE Out of Dublin Coalition, a constellation of local groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, Bay Resistance, and the Democratic Socialists of America’s East Bay chapter. Religious groups like the First Unitarian Church of Oakland and labor groups like SEIU, NUHW, and APALA also signed on to show their support.