Immigrant Action Alliance (IAA) and Freedom for Immigrants (FFI) stand with the family members of Kevin Louis Brown and Kemar Dwayne Williams in demanding the immediate release of both men from solitary confinement and an investigation into the use of excessive force. Mr. Brown and Mr. Williams experienced retaliation in the form of assault, pepper spray, and being thrown in solitary confinement after they participated in a civil rights complaint filed by IAA, FFI and seven other organizations detailing medical abuse at Glades County Detention Center.

Freedom for Immigrants along with 8 other organizations submitted a federal civil rights complaint against the Glades County Detention Center in Florida today on behalf of hundreds of people whose lives are being recklessly endangered.

Freedom for Immigrants joined forces once again with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Human Rights Watch to file an amicus brief in the consolidated cases United States v. California and GEO v. California that have been appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The lawsuits were brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and GEO Group against California to stop the state from implementing AB 32, a new law that will phase out all private incarceration. In October, a federal judge had granted a preliminary injunction, upholding AB 32.

“The Biden-Harris administration’s immigration proposal is a significant departure from the hateful attacks of the outgoing administration, but any comprehensive plan to overhaul our immigration system must include the phasing out of all immigration detention facilities,” said Christina Fialho, co-founder/executive director.

At a time when Americans are desperate for relief from the social and economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress is expected to vote tonight for a federal funding bill that shamefully fails to meet the needs of the communities and families who have suffered the most, and instead pours $23 billion into the Department of Homeland Security’s immigrant detention and deportation system.

HACKENSACK, NJ -- In response to police violence against advocates and community members outside the Bergen County Jail, the Abolish ICE NY-NJ coalition and allies issued the following statement:

“While police in Bergen County spent the majority of their Saturday afternoon and evening responding to peaceful protests with violence, we cannot and must not lose sight of the fact that people detained at the Bergen County Jail are nearly one month into a hunger strike. They are subjected daily to the violence of a brutal detention system and retaliation by ICE and the Bergen County Sheriff.

HACKENSACK, NJ — As six people detained at the Bergen County Jail in New Jersey reach nearly a month on a hunger strike for freedom, two are slated to be transferred to Batavia Federal Detention Facility, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility near Buffalo, New York, according to community advocates and attorneys. One of the hunger strikers set to be transferred has resisted food for 26 days and has lost over 40 pounds.