Dear Freedom for Immigrants Volunteers, Supporters, and Friends,

We are excited to share with you our Spring Newsletter. You can view and share it from this link <[link removed]>. You can also skim through it below.

We especially want to take this time to welcome Layla Razavi as our first Deputy Executive Director! She is based out of our Oakland office. We also want to welcome Tania Mattos as our Policy & Northeast Monitoring Manager! She is based in Queens. You can learn more about them below, and please join me in welcoming them to the team!

Our work over the last few months would not have been possible without you—thank you for all you do!

Warm regards,

Christina M. Fialho | She/Her/Hers
Co-Founder/Executive Director
FREEDOM for IMMIGRANTS
Office: 310-765-4044 (Los Angeles, CA)
www.freedomforimmigrants.org <[link removed]>

Freedom for Immigrants is working to abolish immigration detention. Learn more <[link removed]> & donate here <[link removed]>.


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> Freedom for Immigrants Newsletter: Spring 2020
> Freedom for Immigrants has been documenting abuse in U.S. immigration detention for nearly a decade, including sexual assault by guards and medical neglect that has led to a rising death toll of nearly 40 people under the Trump administration alone. COVID-19 is not to blame for the rampant abuse in immigration detention, but it is exposing the problems with the system. And Freedom for Immigrants has not only been directly responding <[link removed]> to this moment through federal complaints, policy reform, direct action, and increased programming, but also by documenting this abuse in a real-time map <[link removed]>. Read along to learn more.
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> In January, we were honored with the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award <[link removed]>for our efforts advocating for immigrants' rights and protections. Thank you to all of our supporters, over 4,000 volunteers across the country, and friends who have been working alongside us since the beginning and especially now during this global pandemic. Because of you, we remain more resilient and stronger than ever.
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> We also are at a critical moment in our nation’s history. Freedom for Immigrants stands with Black communities across the United States who have risen up to demand justice and transformation in the face of the continued extrajudicial killing of Black people. We condemn the use of both militarized law enforcement and the military to violently quash dissent. Freedom for Immigrants’ work to abolish immigration detention is deeply rooted in a historical understanding that policing in this country is a direct result of slavery, white supremacy, and racism. Today, these legacies continue, as cops aggressively confront protesters with immigration agents serving as ground forces alongside them.
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> Freedom for Immigrants will continue to listen to and uplift organizations with Black and Black-immigrant leadership, provide more education, training, and resources for our members and affiliates, invest in increasing our own knowledge and understanding as an organization, and continue to examine our practice with a critical eye.
> We invite you to join us and learn more about why we advocate for abolition <[link removed]>and share with your networks <[link removed]> about the history of immigration detention.
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> In solidarity,
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> Christina Fialho & Christina Mansfield
> Co-Founders/Executive Directors, Freedom for Immigrants
> MONITORING & INVESTIGATIONS
> These last several months have been a challenging time for everyone. Social visitation to those in detention has been suspended since mid-March. Now more than ever, it remains crucial that we continue monitoring and reporting the instances of abuse and neglect and hold constant pressure on lawmakers to take immediate action. Here are some highlights of our monitoring work over the past few months:
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> Civil Rights Complaints & Policy Advocacy:
> After receiving hotline calls from Adelanto Detention Center about a toxic chemical disinfectant being used on individuals causing difficulty breathing and bloody noses, we filed a Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Complaint (CRCL) with our partners, Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice. Read more here <[link removed]>.
> Along with our partners at Friends of Miami-Dade Detainees, we also filed a CRCL complaint due to the use of a toxic chemical disinfectant at Glades County Jail in Florida. Read it here <[link removed]>.
> We stood alongside partners in calling on ICE to reduce its detention levels. FFI used its biweekly reports on COVID-19 to help push for the HEROES Act <[link removed]> COVID-19 relief legislation <[link removed]>, which passed the House of Representatives on May 15th, 2020. Learn more about our Congressional testimony here <[link removed]>.
> National Immigration Hotline:
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> Due to the suspension of social visitation, our national hotline is one of the only connections to the outside for those in detention. Since our hotline has been restored by a Federal Judge in February 2020 <[link removed]>, we have received an increasing number of calls.
> An average of 150 calls per day, over 4,000 calls received per month, reporting conditions of abuse and neglect.
> Documenting & Reporting Abuses:
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> As a response to COVID-19, in early April we launched a real-time interactive map documenting instances of abuses. Reports have included:
> Inadequate medical responses across at least 71 detention facilities
> Reports of sanitary & hygiene issues across 57 detention facilities
> Quarantines & isolations reported across 41 facilities
> Reports of retaliation against organizers in 32 detention facilities
> You can check out our map here  <[link removed]>and review condition reports <[link removed]>.
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> BUILDING A WORLD WITHOUT DETENTION
> Additionally, we have been working diligently to build and model a world without immigration detention and have been posting bonds to ensure those who are at higher risk for COVID-19 can get safely released. With your support, from January 2020-June 2020, we secured the freedom of 60 individuals by posting over $300,000 worth of immigration bonds.
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> A very special thank you to Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network <[link removed]> and Minnesota Freedom Fund <[link removed]>, who graciously assisted us during this challenging time of posting bond. Seeing the increased collaboration and mutual aid happening all over the country right now has been inspiring. This really goes to show the strength in numbers.
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> We have also been making good use of our post release safe house in Louisiana, which has hosted 59 people from over 31 different countries. This safe house is one of the only places in the state of Louisiana dedicated to providing a consistent form of shelter for immigrants released during COVID-19.
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> WELCOME OUR NEW STAFF
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> Layla Razavi joins us as our first Deputy Executive Director. She brings over 15 years experience in public policy and immigrant rights.
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> Prior to FFI, she served as Policy Director at the California Immigrant Policy Center where she worked as part of the legal team that helped draft, pass, and monitor implementation of the nation’s strongest anti-enforcement legislation, commonly known as California’s “sanctuary” law. Layla also served as National Advocacy & Policy Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union where she helped secure significant legislative victories in states with unfavorable political climates.
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> Her family’s immigration story, like that of many immigrant families, was born of necessity. Layla’s parents—who were active in the student movement in Iran—were studying abroad in the U.S. when the revolution occurred, leaving them afraid to return for fear of political persecution. She was born in San Diego, and as more of her relatives arrived, her family eventually put down roots in California.
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> Layla received her  Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of California, Davis School of Law where she was nominated for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Award.
> Tania Mattos joins us as the Policy & Northeast Monitoring Manager, after 13 years of working as an immigrant and worker rights organizer and advocate at an international, national and local level. Most recently, she worked for five years at an immigration legal direct services organization as the Education and Outreach Director in NYC.
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> She also is co-founder of Queens Neighborhoods United, a grassroots anti-gentrification collective that fights against undemocratic use of land, police abuse, and ICE in the immigrant welcoming borough of Queens, NY. She has received several awards from the New York City Council for her work in the Latinx and immigrant community, and has been profiled in several national and New York City wide publications.
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> Tania was a DACA recipient from 2012 to 2019. She is a proud immigrant who was born in La Paz, Bolivia and was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens. She credits her upbringing and culture for her passion to organize, build leadership and work towards a vision of freedom for all immigrant and marginalized communities.
> VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHTS
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> "I learned how to be happy even in those restrictive walls of Adelanto."
> We would like to highlight and thank our IMM-Print writer, whose self-chosen pen name is, "Russian Anna." In her article, she shares about her devastating experience of fleeing violence in her home country only to continue suffering abuse at the hands of ICE. Her incredible courage & resilience gives us hope in holding those accountable for perpetrating abuses. Learn more about her story and experiences here. <[link removed]>
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> We also want to say a special thank you to our Editor of IMM-Print, Cindy Knoebel, who tirelessly works to produce weekly IMM-Print articles. Cindy has served as Editor for IMM-Print since 2017 and shares her incredible storytelling skills and talents with us, we are immensely grateful for her. Check out this article <[link removed]> written by Cindy.
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> Read other IMM-Print stories, here <[link removed]>.
> Thank you to all of our generous supporters who have made this work possible. Together, we will put an end to this inhumane and profit-driven system.
> Join Us!
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> Copyright © 2020 Freedom for Immigrants, All rights reserved.
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> Our mailing address is:
> 1322 Webster Street, Suite 300
> Oakland, CA 94612
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> Freedom for Immigrants · 1322 Webster St Ste 300 · Oakland, CA 94612-3218 · USA
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