Black Migrant Organizations Stand Against Racist Maltreatment in ICE Detention 

The undersigned Black migrant organizations recently received reports of anti-Black racial discrimination by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and medical service providers against detained Black migrants at the Golden State Annex ICE detention facility in McFarland, California. This discrimination has included racist verbal harassment, neglect to provide adequate medical services, substandard food and clothing provisions, generally poor facility conditions, and manipulation and pressure to self-deport. We vehemently stand against ICE’s racist maltreatment of our detained community members!  

Additionally, we note that many detained Black and African migrants are asylum seekers and refugees. They are fleeing situations where they have endured traumatic experiences related to war, wrongful detention, and torture. Their detention in ICE jails and the racial violence and discrimination they face there are not only a violation of their human rights, they are also retraumatizing and particularly harmful to these migrants’ mental wellbeing. 

We call for the abolition of ICE detention as it consistently proves to be a dehumanizing and torturous experience, especially for Black migrants. We recognize that racial discrimination and violence are rampant in ICE jails and Black migrants are often subject to racialized violence, neglect, and punishments. ICE has an ugly history of subjecting Black and African migrants in detention to prolonged detention periods, racist physical, emotional, and verbal abuse, extended periods of solitary confinement, and medical neglect, as well as abusing their power to retaliate against Black migrants who protest racist treatment.   

As the U.S government continues its destabilizing interference in Africa and the Caribbean, forcing citizens to flee their home countries, and continues to strip Black immigrants of their legal status, place travel bans on their home countries, and expand the use of racist surveillance technologies, we can clearly see that Immigration is a Black issue. As our public officials amplify their hate speech conflating immigration with criminality, pour endless funding into enforcement and detention, and abuse and neglect detained Black migrants, we can clearly see that Crimmigration is a racial justice issue.    

We call on our community members to be vigilant:  

CHECK IN with your loved ones and neighbors who have been detained.  With a person’s A-number and country of origin, you can use the ICE Detainee Locator to find out the facility where they are being detained. The National Immigration Law Center has a guide on how to use the locator and possible next steps. If you’d like to visit community members you don’t know personally, look into volunteering with a local organization. Freedom for Immigrants compiled a national visitation network which may be a good place to start. 

ACCOMPANY your loved ones and neighbors to their USCIS and Immigration Court appointments. You can find some basic information on what to expect and be aware of in the Jesuit Refugee Service’s informational toolkit on court accompaniment. 

EDUCATE yourselves and your communities. BAJI’s legal education resources cover more than 50 immigration related topics in several languages! 

SPEAK OUT against racism and injustice. 

Everyone has a platform, whether it’s in your family, classroom, workplace, community space, or social media. Make sure to use your platform(s) for the advancement of racial and migrant justice! 

Signed, 

1. Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) 
2. Priority Africa Network (PAN) 
3. Bay Area Resource For Newcomers (BRFN) 
4. Contra Costa Immigrant Rights Alliance (CCIRA) 
5. Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP) 
6. California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ)