John - I hope this finds you and your loved ones safe and well. The past several weeks have been difficult for everyone, and know that we at the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) are thinking of you. At NIJC, as with so many organizations, we’ve adjusted how we work. Many of our clients were already living in hardship and now face their very survival as the coronavirus pandemic disrupts every part of daily life. I’m writing today to ask for your help.

Today, people in immigration jails around the country are particularly vulnerable, detained in close contact with others and with completely inadequate medical care. 

This is an urgent situation. Your donation now will help free people from deadly detention during the coronavirus pandemic.

One doctor called detention centers “powder kegs” on CBS News, warning of the deadly consequences when people in jails get infected. And on a national press call where members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and experts urged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release people before the virus strikes detention centers, NIJC Senior Attorney Tania Linares Garcia said and was quoted in the Chicago Tribune, “Attorneys are also hearing from detained immigrants that they have to buy their own soap and aren’t being given supplies to sanitize their cells … We can only imagine how bad things are going to get when the virus spreads. Even for folks who are not at higher risk, the anxiety and knowing that you are at risk of infection has put such a toll on our clients’ mental health.”

NIJC’s detention team is fiercely advocating for the release of individuals from immigration jails as quickly as possible so they can be reunited with their families and communities. Since the coronavirus outbreak, NIJC has won the release of more than 10 people, including two mothers who were separated from their children and a father who was detained when his landlord called ICE to arrest him. But there are many more people who are needlessly detained. Our work will not stop until we reunite them with their families.

Please give now to free more parents and loved ones from detention immediately.

As your generosity helps others, please take care of yourself and your loved ones – especially during these challenging days.  

With gratitude,
Mary Meg McCarthy
Executive Director, National Immigrant Justice Center