Thousands of people in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) have been protesting against Islamabad's rule for more than three we
The contrast of world cup and Delaney Detention Center. By Mohammed Khaku
These are excerpts from a moving speech by abolitionist Frederick Douglass, delivered on July 5 in honor of the Declaration of Independence’s anniversary. The sunlight that brings your life and healing brings me pain and loss. This Fourth of July belongs to you, not me. You may rejoice, but I must grieve. In the midst of your loud national celebrations, I hear the mournful cries of millions whose chains, cruel and heavy yesterday, feel even heavier today because of the joyful shouts surrounding them. In all honesty, I have never seen the character and conduct of this nation appear darker to me than on this Independence Day.The contrast of world cup and Delaney Detention CenterThe global soccer celebrations at MetLife Stadium & the ongoing detention issues at Delaney Hall paints a striking contrast, with “melting pot” of deep-rooted injustice and human rights violations.
Anti-ICE activists are planning demonstrations around one of the key venues for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with campaigners hoping to use the tournament's global spotlight to raise awareness of immigration detention in New JerseySource: Alex Cascio, Feel Good Action, & BAP.Immigrant detention, the mass incarceration of Black people, and the confinement of Indigenous communities are all connected as tools of racialized fascist control. With the World Cup finals happening just 10 miles from Delaney Hall—a detention center holding many from the Global South—it’s obvious that the US, ICE, and complicit police forces are mistreating migrants while criminalizing both aid and protest. The ever-growing carceral system, which has held detainees for nearly twenty years, is yet another stark example of US exceptionalism, lawlessness, and gangsterism. (Black Alliance for Peace activist, Micaela Bastidas)The FIFA World Cup final will be held at MetLife Stadium, just outside Newark, New Jersey. Meanwhile, only a few miles away, nearly 1,000 people remain detained at Delaney Hall, an ICE facility operated by the private prison company GEO Group.Despite receiving billions from the federal government, Geo Group’s facilities still have detainees doing maintenance work for as little as $1 a day, and even a basic phone call costs $5.In December 2025, 41-year-old Jean Wilson Brutus died inside the facility. Outside, ICE agents violently clashed with protesters, shoving them into traffic, shooting pepper balls, and spraying tear gas directly into their faces.These problems aren’t limited to Newark’s Delaney Hall—reports of inhumane treatment have surfaced from ICE detention centers all over the country.Tensions between ICE and peaceful protesters have been in the public eye since Trump intensified mass deportation policies after taking office.The contrast is striking—Trump’s hardline anti-immigration policies, which critics compare to modern-day concentration camps, are playing out just miles from a World Cup
celebration of global unity.From the beginning, his unfriendly stance toward foreigners has clouded the tournament.In June, Somali referee Omar Artan was barred from entering the U.S., as Somalia is still on Trump’s travel ban list, coupled with derogatory comments he’s made about Somali immigrants and refugees.An Iraqi team staff member was denied entry, and many fans from around the world who had bought tickets were also turned away. One Iraqi player was held for hours at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.The U.S. is hosting the World Cup during a time of growing hostility toward athletes from Iran and other countries, along with tighter border controls.
The NJ coalition announced plans to stage protests on highway overpasses surrounding the MetLife Sports ComplexThe global soccer celebrations at MetLife Stadium & the ongoing detention issues at Delaney Hall paint a striking contrast, with some seeing it as a “melting pot” of cultural joy & deep-rooted injustice.The GEO Group, a private prison company running the Delaney Hall immigrant detention center in Newark, NJ, reflects the profit-driven, authoritarian mindset often associated with crisis-fueled and late-stage capitalism.Immigrant detention acts as a form of racialized social control, clearly reflected in the ongoing struggle at Delaney Hall.The GEO Group’s role underscores the blend of profit and incarceration, showing that Delaney Hall is far more than just an immigration processing center.It’s remarkable how the place turned into a center of resistance, with detainees staging hunger and labor strikes to push for better conditions and, above all, an end to their detention.Unfortunately, their protests fell on deaf ears, dismissed and met with state violence.At Delaney Hall, one of several detention centers run by ICE, women have suffered miscarriages, and migrant workers have been discouraged from seeking basic healthcare or humane treatment out of fear they’ll be placed in isolation.The facility has faced backlash from detainees, local and state officials, and some lawmakers, all condemning its conditions as inhumane.Inmates at Delaney Hall have reported dealing with spoiled, sometimes maggot-infested food, undrinkable water, overcrowded conditions, inadequate medical care, and physical abuse such as beatings and pepper spray.They’ve staged hunger and labor strikes to draw attention to these issues. Detainees and their supporters claim the facility’s conditions are worse than many state-run prisons.Governor Mikie Sherrill has called for the facility to be permanently closed and has openly criticized ICE and its detention practices.Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has sued the operator, GEO Group, arguing that health and safety violations should have kept it closed.Lawmaker like Sen. Andy Kim and others have spoken out after tours, citing dirty bathrooms, abusive guards, and delayed or missing medical care.Critics range from detainees and officials at all levels to some Republicans, raising concerns about human rights violations, unsafe conditions, political hypocrisy, and the need for immigration detention reform.Hopefully, this stance against Delaney Hall will bring us together and inspire a stronger commitment to fighting injustices everywhere.
World Cup spotlight extends beyond football/Soccer.Your celebration is nothing more than a shame; your so-called freedom, just reckless indulgence; your national pride, empty arrogance; your joyful sounds, meaningless and hollow; your denouncement of tyrants, nothing but empty swagger. Your calls for freedom and equality are nothing more than hollow gestures; your prayers, songs, sermons, and celebrations, with all their religious show and ceremony, are to him just noise, fraud, disrespect, and hypocrisy thin disguise for crimes that would disgrace even the most uncivilized nation. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass
Anti-ICE activists are planning demonstrations around one of the key venues for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with campaigners hoping to use the tournament's global spotlight to raise awareness of immigration detention in New JerseySource: Alex Cascio, Feel Good Action, & BAP.Immigrant detention, the mass incarceration of Black people, and the confinement of Indigenous communities are all connected as tools of racialized fascist control. With the World Cup finals happening just 10 miles from Delaney Hall—a detention center holding many from the Global South—it’s obvious that the US, ICE, and complicit police forces are mistreating migrants while criminalizing both aid and protest. The ever-growing carceral system, which has held detainees for nearly twenty years, is yet another stark example of US exceptionalism, lawlessness, and gangsterism. (Black Alliance for Peace activist, Micaela Bastidas)The FIFA World Cup final will be held at MetLife Stadium, just outside Newark, New Jersey. Meanwhile, only a few miles away, nearly 1,000 people remain detained at Delaney Hall, an ICE facility operated by the private prison company GEO Group.Despite receiving billions from the federal government, Geo Group’s facilities still have detainees doing maintenance work for as little as $1 a day, and even a basic phone call costs $5.In December 2025, 41-year-old Jean Wilson Brutus died inside the facility. Outside, ICE agents violently clashed with protesters, shoving them into traffic, shooting pepper balls, and spraying tear gas directly into their faces.These problems aren’t limited to Newark’s Delaney Hall—reports of inhumane treatment have surfaced from ICE detention centers all over the country.Tensions between ICE and peaceful protesters have been in the public eye since Trump intensified mass deportation policies after taking office.The contrast is striking—Trump’s hardline anti-immigration policies, which critics compare to modern-day concentration camps, are playing out just miles from a World Cup
celebration of global unity.From the beginning, his unfriendly stance toward foreigners has clouded the tournament.In June, Somali referee Omar Artan was barred from entering the U.S., as Somalia is still on Trump’s travel ban list, coupled with derogatory comments he’s made about Somali immigrants and refugees.An Iraqi team staff member was denied entry, and many fans from around the world who had bought tickets were also turned away. One Iraqi player was held for hours at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.The U.S. is hosting the World Cup during a time of growing hostility toward athletes from Iran and other countries, along with tighter border controls.
The NJ coalition announced plans to stage protests on highway overpasses surrounding the MetLife Sports ComplexThe global soccer celebrations at MetLife Stadium & the ongoing detention issues at Delaney Hall paint a striking contrast, with some seeing it as a “melting pot” of cultural joy & deep-rooted injustice.The GEO Group, a private prison company running the Delaney Hall immigrant detention center in Newark, NJ, reflects the profit-driven, authoritarian mindset often associated with crisis-fueled and late-stage capitalism.Immigrant detention acts as a form of racialized social control, clearly reflected in the ongoing struggle at Delaney Hall.The GEO Group’s role underscores the blend of profit and incarceration, showing that Delaney Hall is far more than just an immigration processing center.It’s remarkable how the place turned into a center of resistance, with detainees staging hunger and labor strikes to push for better conditions and, above all, an end to their detention.Unfortunately, their protests fell on deaf ears, dismissed and met with state violence.At Delaney Hall, one of several detention centers run by ICE, women have suffered miscarriages, and migrant workers have been discouraged from seeking basic healthcare or humane treatment out of fear they’ll be placed in isolation.The facility has faced backlash from detainees, local and state officials, and some lawmakers, all condemning its conditions as inhumane.Inmates at Delaney Hall have reported dealing with spoiled, sometimes maggot-infested food, undrinkable water, overcrowded conditions, inadequate medical care, and physical abuse such as beatings and pepper spray.They’ve staged hunger and labor strikes to draw attention to these issues. Detainees and their supporters claim the facility’s conditions are worse than many state-run prisons.Governor Mikie Sherrill has called for the facility to be permanently closed and has openly criticized ICE and its detention practices.Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has sued the operator, GEO Group, arguing that health and safety violations should have kept it closed.Lawmaker like Sen. Andy Kim and others have spoken out after tours, citing dirty bathrooms, abusive guards, and delayed or missing medical care.Critics range from detainees and officials at all levels to some Republicans, raising concerns about human rights violations, unsafe conditions, political hypocrisy, and the need for immigration detention reform.Hopefully, this stance against Delaney Hall will bring us together and inspire a stronger commitment to fighting injustices everywhere.
World Cup spotlight extends beyond football/Soccer.Your celebration is nothing more than a shame; your so-called freedom, just reckless indulgence; your national pride, empty arrogance; your joyful sounds, meaningless and hollow; your denouncement of tyrants, nothing but empty swagger. Your calls for freedom and equality are nothing more than hollow gestures; your prayers, songs, sermons, and celebrations, with all their religious show and ceremony, are to him just noise, fraud, disrespect, and hypocrisy thin disguise for crimes that would disgrace even the most uncivilized nation. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass
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"Trial of Pakistani Christian Nation" By Nazir S Bhatti
On demand of our readers, I have decided to release E-Book version of "Trial of Pakistani Christian Nation" on website of PCP which can also be viewed on website of Pakistan Christian Congress www.pakistanchristiancongress.org . You can read chapter wise by clicking tab on left handside of PDF format of E-Book.