John, three people with strong habeas cases are sitting in ICE detention right now, and every hour we wait is another chance for them to disappear…

Here's the situation: All three are facing deportation. None of them has a lawyer. If ICE moves them to another facility or puts them on a deportation flight before an attorney can file a habeas claim on their behalf, their families may not even know where they've gone.

That's why Social Security Works is joining forces with the Workers Circle this week. Together, we need to raise $15,000 immediately to get all three attorneys who will file habeas cases.

Will you fight back against the deportation regime by splitting a $10, $25, or even $50 donation to the Freedom Advocates program?

Last month, with no announcement, ICE quietly stopped listing people with final deportation orders in its online detainee locator. That's the database families and lawyers rely on to find someone in custody. More than 16,000 people in ICE detention are now missing from it.

Lawyers search for their clients and come up empty. Families call facility after facility. Meanwhile, ICE moves people from one detention center to another, and deports people, often with no warning at all. Immigration lawyers say that for someone with a final order, even a few hours can make the difference between being deported and getting a judge to step in.

This is serious enough that last week, human rights groups asked the United Nations panel that investigates enforced disappearances to intervene. DHS insists it isn't disappearing anyone. But when the government hides where it's holding people and rushes to deport them before anyone can find them, what else would you call it?

ICE is counting on one thing, John: that no one will come looking in time.

A lawyer changes that. It's much harder to disappear someone who has legal representation. An attorney knows the person's name and where they're being held, and has the standing to go before a federal judge. A habeas petition forces the government to justify why it's holding someone. While the case is heard, an attorney can ask the court for an emergency stay to stop a deportation.

Freedom Advocates grew out of the relationships the Workers Circle built at the 47 consecutive weeks of freedom vigils outside Alligator Alcatraz that shut down that detention camp permanently. Now, with immigration attorneys working at greatly reduced rates, we're reaching people in ICE detention centers across the country who have final orders, no lawyer, and no money.

None of us can stop ICE's machine alone. But our two organizations and thousands of people giving together can put three attorneys in front of three people this week. That's three people ICE can no longer quietly erase.

Will you split a gift of $10, $25, $50, or whatever feels meaningful to you between Social Security Works and the Workers Circle to help us raise $15,000 and file all three habeas cases this week?

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately, split evenly between Social Security Works and The Workers Circle

In solidarity,

Noelle Damico
The Workers Circle