Free people from ICE detention
No one should be locked up just for seeking safety
As the world continues to cope from the enduring COVID-19 pandemic, immigrants and asylum-seekers locked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been left behind to face these turbulent times alone, in detention facilities with inadequate medical care and crowded, tinderbox-like conditions. These detained individuals and families are in extreme danger, with rapid spread already occurring.
Urge Acting ICE Director Tony Pham to free people—including all families together—from ICE detention and protect them from COVID-19.
- Sign this petition to ICE
- Write a letter to Acting Director Tony Pham, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 500 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. 20536 and let us know you took this action by emailing campaigns@aiusa.org.
- Submit a letter to the editor or op-ed for your local paper and let us know you took this action by emailing campaigns@aiusa.org
- Sponsor a refugee or asylum-seeker
- Learn more about community sponsorship with immigrants and asylum-seekers released from detention
- Read the report: ‘We Are Adrift, About to Sink’
- Read the update to our report on COVID-19 in US immigration detention
- Stop tech from facilitating abuses against migrants and asylum-seekers
# free pastor steven
Pastor Steven is a human rights activist seeking asylum in the U.S. after Ugandan government forces amputated two of his fingers and murdered his family members. He would likely be killed if deported to Uganda.
His health has rapidly deteriorated under ICE’s watch as they keep him detained in Texas.
ICE must #FreePastorSteven
# free the families
Families like Ana and Victoria, who are simply seeking safety from violence and persecution are now locked up by ICE in Pennsylvania and Texas, where COVID-19 runs rampant. ICE now has a choice: family unity and freedom, or family separation and detention.
All families must be immediately released together!
in your own backyard
As of late September, over 6,000 people tested positive for COVID-19 in immigration detention, and at least eight people died after contracting the virus in detention. The number of positive tests is likely an undercount: research and policy experts estimate the true total may be exponentially higher than figures reported by ICE. Numbers continue to rise, endangering the tens of thousands detained and working in ICE facilities and potentially overwhelming hospital capacity.
Call on governors to urge ICE to free immigrants and asylum-seekers in their state!
Amplify the pressure through social media
Why We Need Action #RightsNow!
Immigrants and asylum-seekers face grave harm including illness and death if exposed to COVID-19 in immigration detention facilities, where conditions are well-documented to have substandard medical care, inadequate basic hygiene, and overcrowding. Thousands of people have already tested positive in ICE detention and a number of them have tragically died after contracting the virus.
The U.S. government is responsible for the health and safety of people in its custody. It must take all steps to protect them from COVID-19 and immediately release all individuals and families together. Many immigrants and asylum-seekers in detention have long-standing family, faith, and other communities in the U.S. who could safely house them if they were released.
your activism matters
Thanks to our fearless partners at TransLatin@ Coalition, her tenacious attorneys at National Immigrant Justice Center, and Amnesty International’s global movement, Kelly is free! After persevering through nearly three years in detention, where she faced heightened risks due to inadequate measures taken by authorities to protect her and others from COVID-19, she has finally been released and can now be with her vast community or friends and supporters who’ve been waiting to welcome her. To everyone who has supported her and fought for her freedom, she said:
