Issue 13: "It's so hard to talk about this."
Welcome to this week’s edition of IMM Print Weekly, a newsletter that showcases the stories of detained immigrants and their allies.
We seek to shine a light on how immigrant prisons and jails impact human beings and communities, celebrate the work of those advocating for detention abolition, and provide resources on how to get involved.
In this week’s edition: a woman separated from her fiancé and a California community rallies against ICE in their own backyard.
Freedom for Immigrants is continuing to raise money for our National Bond Fund. Since we launched our bond fund, we have bonded out over 260 people, paying over $1.6 million. If any of the stories we’ve published in IMM Print have moved you, please consider donating here.
“Please Help Bring My Fiancé Home”
25-year-old Heriberto was celebrating his fiancé’s birthday at dinner when, in the parking lot outside, he was harassed and assaulted in the parking lot. When the police arrived on the scene, they noted Heriberto’s undocumented status and took him into custody.
His fiancé, unsure of where he was taken, called the police office where she asked if he was going to be released. The woman who answered the phone explained that she was on a 48 hr ICE hold. When the fiancé asked more questions, the woman on the other line responded, “I don’t know, are you stupid or something?”
“He’s being transferred to Louisiana sometime this week. I was told he’d be able to see an immigration lawyer there, and get a $5,000 bond that had to be paid in cash. I contacted a lawyer, who told me to call him as soon as Heriberto arrives in Louisiana. […] It’s so hard to talk about this. For my whole life I’ve looked for someone to love me the way Heriberto does—and he loves me so much. I’m not going to let anyone take him away from me. I hope we’ll be married one day, and have children. I’m confident we will get him out. But it’s heartbreaking.”
Heriberto’s fiancé has set up a GoFundMe to help raise the $5,000 for his bond. Please consider donating if you can.
Read the rest of Heriberto’s story here.
Stop GEO in McFarland
On Tuesday, January 21, community members came out in droves to say #ICEOutofCA. Private prison giant GEO Group has filed a solicitation to build another immigrant prison in McFarland, CA — in violation of AB 32, the California law that bans private prisons in the state.
Founder of Friends of Orange County Detainees, Jan Meslin, attended the community hearing in McFarland and reported what she witnessed:
“It was other worldly. I walked up to the city council chambers to see hundreds of others…. in two camps. On the left were community members and allies, mostly young women and men. I didn’t realize at the time that 95% of McFarland is Latinx or Hispanic. On the right (although not so many as on the left) were GEO employees and city officials, even an official from Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s office. Lots of men in suits. There was a rope between us and police were there so we didn’t step across that rope .”
Read the rest of of Jan’s account here and show your support for the immigrant community in California by using the hashtag #ICEOutofCA and #CommunitiesNotCages.
Get involved:
Today the Freedom for Immigrants team faces ICE in court over the suspension of our hotline. We’d love it for everyone to show their support online using the hashtag #RestoreTheHotline.
Freedom for Immigrants’ Policy Director Sarah Gardiner has an op-ed in The New York Times about the ongoing hunger strikes in Louisiana. Read and share here.
Today in New Orleans, activists with Voces Unidas and Louisiana AID will present the NOLA ICE Field Office with over 400 pages of the MoveOn petition calling for the release of the men on hunger strike in Louisiana. Facebook page for the event is here.