Adelanto, CA -- Immigrant rights advocates are denouncing the Adelanto City Council’s decision late last night to remove Planning Commission Vice-Chair JayShawn Johnson from his post. Last week, Johnson was the only member of the Commission to oppose a controversial proposal by multi-billion dollar prison corporation GEO to expand its immigration detention capacity in the city. The expansion has been widely slammed as an attempt to undercut California’s AB 32, which bans for-profit prisons and detention centers in the state.

On Tuesday, Freedom for Immigrants (FFI), Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention (Louisiana AID) filed two complaints with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) on behalf of South Asian men detained at the LaSalle Detention Facility in Jena, Louisiana.

LOS ANGELES, CA — Freedom for Immigrants is excited to launch a project titled “Detention in Your District,” a series of informational briefs highlighting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers in Congressional districts throughout the country. An essential component of ending immigration detention is understanding its scope and methods of expansion, especially as the Trump administration calls for an even bigger budget to enable its detention apparatus. We recognize that in order to be truly #DONEWithDetention, we must understand how it functions in our own backyards, and how local detention fits into a national system of mass incarceration of immigrants.

Los Angeles, CA – February 11, 2020 – Today, Freedom for Immigrants (“FFI”) and its pro bono counsel Hueston Hennigan LLP announced that the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted its application for a preliminary injunction and ordered U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) to restore FFI’s National Immigration Detention Hotline (the “Hotline”). The Hotline allows persons in immigration detention to report abuse, find resources, and bridge the divide between detained persons and their family and loved ones.

Washington, DC — The Defund Hate Coalition issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2021:

“For his final budget proposal before the election, the Trump administration is clear on its core motivations: a wholesale, hate-fueled attack on immigrants. In the four years Trump has put forth his annual budget proposal, he has requested a cumulative total of $36.4 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and $72.1 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP). These totals are on top of the billions of dollars in additional funding he’s called for over the years through supplemental and transfer requests and the billions he stole last year with his ‘national emergency’ declaration.

Boston, MA – Freedom for Immigrants co-founders Christina Mansfield and Christina Fialho will be honored with the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award for their tireless efforts advocating for immigrants rights and protections. Washington State Lieutenant Governor Cyrus Habib also will receive the New Frontier Award for his work on progressive issues for his constituents, including sponsoring bills that would guarantee paid sick leave for almost all workers and the Washington Voting Rights Act, which would prevent racially polarized voting systems. The awards will be presented by Jack Schlossberg, President Kennedy’s grandson, during a ceremony on February 7 at 5:00pm at the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School.

The Etowah Visitation Project coordinators volunteer visits to people detained in the Etowah Detention Center in Alabama. Visitation can be a lifeline for people inside detention, particularly those detained at Etowah who are kept indoors 24/7 with no access to outdoor recreation.

Los Angeles, CA - Today, Freedom for Immigrants in collaboration with 18 other leading grassroots organizations throughout California is launching the Statewide Days of Visitation and Action.  

 Between January 17th and 20th, we will be coordinating visits to the Adelanto Detention Facility and the Otay Detention Facility, two privately-run immigrant prisons in California.  We also will be holding community screenings of the recently-released film, Just Mercy, and panel discussions to raise awareness of the impact of mass incarceration and deportation on our communities.