Dear Friends & Supporters,   Freedom for Immigrants is building a world where no person is imprisoned for crossing a border. And now, we are one step closer to achieving this mission.     At the end of December, Congress passed a $5M allocation in this year’s budget for a government-funded community-based alternative to detention pilot!  While we are working to hold the government accountable for administering this first-of-its-kind pilot in line with our values, this federal investment in community-based programming was a hard-fought victory.  It was built off of years of Freedom for Immigrants and others introducing budget amendment after budget amendment and working with then-Senator Kamala Harris to introduce federal legislation to divest from immigration detention and invest in community-based alternatives. With the support of the ATD Working Group, co-convened by Freedom for Immigrants and the Women’s Refugee Commission, we will continue to push for investment in community-based programming. And while we wait to see if the federal government implements a principled pilot, Freedom for Immigrants is continuing to work with our partners at the state level in California for a more local approach to investing in a world without detention.   After this win, we rang in the new year by successfully securing the freedom of people like Randy and Elpidio, and began calling on our new President to #FreeThemAll. While we are energized by the Biden-Harris administration’s prioritization of immigration reform, we remain concerned about our country’s collective amnesia. Just because we no longer have a President spouting anti-immigrant statements does not mean we can close our eyes. Immigration detention is thriving, and we must continue to hold our government accountable.   This quarter, we filed a series of multi-individual civil rights complaints against ICE concerning coercion, physical and verbal abuse, medical neglect, reckless endangerment, and more. We have pushed back on the Biden-Harris administration’s failure to follow through on its campaign promise to abolish private prisons, and we have fought against the growth of the private prison industry in detaining children. We worked with Representative Ilhan Omar to urge the President to go a step further and sign an executive action to phase out contracts between ICE and public jails.    As we approach the President’s 100-day mark, Freedom for Immigrants remains committed to standing in solidarity with people in immigration detention and their families who continue to face racism, targeted immigration enforcement, and denial of basic human rights. We will not stop until all are free, and we hope each of you will continue to support and work alongside us!   Join us in solidarity In solidarity,   Christina Fialho Co-Founder/Executive Director Freedom for Immigrants   Detention Monitoring & Investigations Demanding Accountability In February, we filed a multi-individual complaint against ICE concerning illegal use of force against immigrants from Cameroon. With our partners Al Otro Lado, Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention, and Lara Nochomovitz (who lives at and manages our house in Louisiana), we urged the government to stop the deportation of these human beings who were coerced into signing orders of removal. We prevailed! ICE cancelled the deportation flight.  We also filed a multi-individual complaint against the Glades County Detention Center in Florida on behalf of hundreds of people whose lives are being recklessly endangered at this county-run facility during the COVID-19 pandemic. We filed it with the Immigrant Action Alliance and Americans for Immigrant Justice, joined by 6 other organizations.  Freedom for Immigrants filed two federal civil rights complaints with our partners against ICE and GEO Group for the illegal use of toxic chemicals at the Adelanto Detention Facility (California) and the Glades County Detention Center (Florida) months ago. In September 2020, a California District Court ordered that GEO immediately discontinue the use of HDQ Neutral due to the potential threat of the pesticide. After seven months of investigation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final report and an official Notice of Warning to GEO Group (GEO) for multiple violations in response to their misuse of the toxic pesticide HDQ Neutral inside the Adelanto Detention Facility (Adelanto).  Hunger Strikes in New Jersey As of December 27th, the Hudson County Jail in New Jersey reported 33 positive cases of COVID-19. Many of the men detained at Hudson have gone on hunger strikes to protest their continued unjust imprisonment, particularly during a global pandemic. With Abolish ICE NY/NJ, we have joined these brave people who are putting their bodies on the line to call for the release of all people detained at Hudson who are suffering in isolation. Freedom for Immigrants has been documenting substandard medical care at this facility for years, and five years later it continues to fail its community members. Policy Advocacy Free Them All While we are happy to see a change in the administration, we are still continuing to put pressure on this administration. Freedom for Immigrants and Detention Watch Network sent the Biden administration a letter on behalf of over 200 organizations calling for immediate releases. We then used this momentum to work with Congresswoman Ilhan Oman and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley to engage 22 representatives to send a letter to President Biden’s Director of Domestic Policy and the DHS Secretary to urge the Biden administration to issue an additional Executive Order announcing a plan to phase out contracts between ICE and state, county, and local jails and prisons. Read more here. Dignity Not Detention NY Freedom for Immigrants helps convene the Abolish ICE NY/NJ Coalition. We have been working with the Immigrant Rights Clinic at NYU to draft a Dignity Not Detention Act for New York, and we have supported the push in New Jersey for DND. Our Policy & Northeast Monitoring Manager, Tania Mattos, gave oral and written testimony in support of the NJ bill.  Active Lawsuits We sued the government to demand reinstatement of the Etowah Visitation Project, which connects volunteers to people in detention. Etowah County & ICE terminated the program in violation of our First Amendment rights, and with support from pro bono counsel  Reed Smith, we filed a lawsuit. We had an initial hearing in January and another hearing with witnesses, including our staff, and will continue to fight for reinstatement of this important visitation program.  We filed an amicus brief with ILRC and Human Rights Watch 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 United States Department of Justice and  GEO Corporation against California to stop the state from implementing AB 32, a new law that will phase out all private incarceration, including immigration detention centers, in California. In October, a federal judge had granted a preliminary injunction, upholding AB 32. Read more here. Investing in Community-Based Alternatives to Detention Community Investment Strategies We are building a world without detention by divesting from systems of immigrant incarceration and investing in welcoming communities. Our Freedom100 Bond Fund is how we invest in communities. This impact investment fund works to free immigrants from detention, reuniting communities and loved ones and providing support post release. This quarter, we have secured the freedom of 35 individuals including Elpidio and Okunlola, shown below, so that they can remain with family while working to win their immigration cases. Mental Health Therapy Project  Immigration detention is psychological torture. We receive numerous calls on our National Hotline documenting the instances of abuse, neglect and isolation from their communities and families. Many migrants face immense trauma not only during their journey, but also while detained, leaving deep psychological wounds. We recognize these harms and are excited to announce that we have just launched our mental health therapy pilot, providing free mental health services to immigrant parents recently bonded out from detention. These trauma-informed, culturally and linguistically competent, supports serve as a greatly needed tools and resource as a first step for family and community healing. FFI Staff & Network Highlights Welcome Christine! Christine Mladic Jenney joins us as a recipient of the Leading Edge Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. Christine is a sociocultural anthropologist, media maker, and scholar committed to immigrants rights and the pursuit of social justice. Her work at Freedom for Immigrants primarily involves research and reporting about immigration detention, including its representation in the media, the effects of COVID-19 within the system, and an investigation into its global dimensions.   As a scholar and activist, Christine has more than 10 years of experience conducting qualitative research in Latin America and the US focusing on media, race and indigeneity, and migration. She received a PhD in Sociocultural Anthropology, as well as an Advanced Certificate in Culture and Media, from New York University. She has taught courses in Latin American and Latinx Studies at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. In addition, Christine is the director of the award-winning documentary film Runasimiwan Kawsay (Living Quechua), and founder of the Quechua language podcast program, Rimasun. She is also a co-author of Hippocrene Book's Quechua-Spanish-English Dictionary (2018).  Christine also worked for several years in marketing and communications in both the non-profit and private sectors. In addition to her PhD, she holds an MA in Latin American Studies from CLACS at NYU, and a BFA in Photography and a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Congrats to our partners at El Refugio! In January, El Refugio in Lumpkin, Georgia was awarded the 2021 Reverend John Guttermann Legacy Award for their outstanding contributions this year to the detention visitation and abolition movement. Each year, FFI awards the Reverend John Guttermann Legacy Award to one or more outstanding visitation groups.  El Refugio has its roots in Georgia Detention Watch, whose members began in 2008 to visit immigrants and asylum seekers detained at Stewart Detention Center, one of the largest in the country with 1,600 detained individuals. After witnessing the challenges shared by those visiting loved ones at Stewart —  a group of friends established El Refugio. In 2010, El Refugio opened a small hospitality house offering meals and lodging at no cost, as well as friendship and support, to the loved ones of immigrants and asylum seekers who are detained. Over the course of an average year, 69 families would stay at least one night, 200 people would stop by for a meal, and 250-plus volunteers would make 576 visits to people inside Stewart.  This past year, El Refugio launched their critical Advocacy Team, which works with individuals inside to coordinate strategic responses to the constant assault of medical neglect and physical abuse at the detention facility, infamously one of the deadliest in the country. Four individuals detained at Stewart havelost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic alone. Let's Abolish Detention Thank you for your ongoing commitment, support and generosity! We are fueled by having a community of friends and advocates who demand justice and accountability. Our voices and stories are powerful tools to effect change. Invest in Immigrant Communities Today! Together, we can transform this inhumane immigration system and help our communities flourish. Continue on this journey with us to achieve freedom for all immigrants. Copyright © 2021 Freedom for Immigrants, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: Freedom for Immigrants 1322 Webster St Ste 300 Oakland, CA  94612-3218 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.