Statement from Siri Singh Sahib Corporation Regarding Akal Security

Statement from Siri Singh Sahib Corporation Regarding Akal Security

August 22, 2019

The Siri Singh Sahib Corporation (SSSC), as the oversight body of the Yogi Bhajan legacy organizations, is charged with supporting the mission and vision of the organizations and ensuring that our collective values and moral standards are being upheld. Toward that end, the Siri Singh Sahib Corporation has decided on three actions to serve and uphold those values.

The SSSC has listened closely to concerns raised about Akal Security’s role as a subcontractor to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) at the Krome Service Processing Center in Miami, Florida. In response to issues relating to the current administration’s immigration policies, a sincere discussion is ongoing at the SSSC about how to uphold our collective values and move forward in the most expedient, responsible, and humanitarian manner possible.

The SSSC supports the legal and human rights of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers who have come to the United States seeking shelter and safety from untenable situations in their home countries. Along with people of conscience around the world, we are increasingly concerned about the recent shifts in tactics and policies being applied to innocent people seeking asylum. We are morally opposed to separation of children from their parents and inhumane treatment of asylum seekers and immigrants.

Background
Akal Security has provided security services to the US government since 1987. The types of facilities that Akal has served include courthouses, airports, army bases, offices, and other government facilities. The scope of Akal Security’s work at Krome is to maintain safety and security at the facility while the cases of the individuals detained are resolved.

The population at Krome consists entirely of adult males; no women or children are housed there. This facility has not experienced the large influx of newly arriving immigrants such as we have seen at the US-Mexico border. Unlike the temporary, overcrowded facilities on the US-Mexico border depicted in the news, the Krome facility is a highly controlled detention environment in a permanent building equipped with air conditioning, beds, recreational facilities, showers, medical staff, access to books and legal counsel, and food options according to religious and dietary choices.

The SSSC’s Board of Trustees has made the following determinations:

1. The organizations under the SSSC umbrella may not enter into any future contracts with ICE.
2. Funds from Akal Security shall not be included in future grants to the legacy non- profit organizations as long as Akal Security remains in any ICE or ICE related contracts. These include: Sikh Dharma International, 3HO Foundation International, Kundalini Research Institute, Sikhnet, Sikh Dharma Education International and 3HO of Europe. As a point of fact, Akal Security has not granted funds to the non-profits for the past 5 years.
3. The Siri Singh Sahib Corporation and Akal Security are actively exploring and evaluating Akal's business model including the current contract at the Krome Facility.

All of our organizations, for-profit and nonprofit, are committed to working actively for positive change, and we encourage all people of conscience to get involved in ways to make a difference.

The members of the Siri Singh Sahib Corporation Board appreciate the prayers and concerns of all those who have reached out and participated in this process, and will report back to the community any future developments about this issue.


Humbly yours,
The Board of Trustees
Siri Singh Sahib Corporation

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For comments and questions email: info@ssscorp.org