Thread by @MigrantFreedom

Members of the House Judiciary Committee are now hearing from people directly impacted by the immigration detention system in a live forum on ICE's failed response to #Covid19

RT this thread & watch live #DefundHate #FreeThemAll judiciary.house.gov/?utm_campaign=…

Rather than do what is right and #FreeThemAll, @ICEgov issued guidance for social distancing.

It is impossible to practice social distancing in jails & prisons.

#DefundHate

"There are at least 881 individuals who have tested positive. Because ICE lacks the ability to test everyone, that number is likely much higher" -@RepJerryNadler

#DefundHate

A reminder that we are tracking ICE's failed response to #COVID19 on an interactive map 👇

freedomforimmigrants.org/map

"Carlos’s death is a tragedy, but the word tragedy does not go far enough. What does it mean when a death occurs in our government’s custody because of abusive conditions and corruption that human rights monitors have reported on for decades? " - @heidiraltman @NIJC #DefundHate

"People inside these jails are bravely organizing and resisting, and they are met with pepper spray" - @heidiraltman @NIJC

Our map indicates ICE has retaliated against people for organizing at 37 immigrant prisons #DefundHate

freedomforimmigrants.org/map

Change cannot wait.

1) Congress must impose restrictions on ICE’s detention & enforcement apparatus in the next stimulus package.
2) Divest from the incarceration of immigrants and instead invest in communities and case management-focused programming

#DefundHate

“While I was detained, my wife gave birth to our second child and our family lost our home. I met our new baby in a picture by mail," - Johannes Favi, who was in ICE custody at a county jail for nearly a year.

#DefundHate

"Being in that jail for so long is like torture [...] It gets to your mind and your soul. You want to give up on your freedom and even your life," Favi continues.

Last year we published a report on how immigration detention is psychological torture 👇
freedomforimmigrants.org/report-on-ment…

"I think every day about the people who are still in detention...Today I am given the opportunity to be their voice. Members of Congress, they are counting on you. They are relying on you to reunite them with their families," Favi closes.

Your move, Congress.
#DefundHate

"As a healthcare worker, I know [ICE] is not doing everything they need to keep everyone safe in there [...] It is impossible to follow social distancing" - Claudia Robles, a medical assistant whose husband is in a @TheGEOGroup prison #DefundHate

"One-third of all people in ICE detention are jailed at a facility that has only one hospital that has ICU beds within 25 miles [...] That's why this is a matter of public health," - @heidiraltman of @NIJC

#DefundHate

The courage it takes for people like Johannes Favi & Claudia Robles to forward and shine a light on the terrible conditions in these immigrant prisons must be matched by bold, swift legislative action.

We can no longer wait. Lives are on the line #DefundHate

The safest place for *everyone* is at home with family and loved ones. Congress must divest from the abusive, costly immigration detention system and invest in community-based alternatives.

#DefundHate

"Contrary to what ICE would have you believe, the agency does have a vast menu of options to release people," - @RepJayapal

#DefundHate #FreeThemAll

When people are supported, when they have case management [...] they come to court. They want to pursue their cases and they are more invested in the process because they see it as fair," @heidiraltman of @NIJC

Congress must invest in community-based alternatives

#DefundHate

"I worry about [my husband] every day, every second, every time I take care of a COVID patient [...] I'm here protecting my community as much as I can but yet, my husband is in detention and his life are at risk," says Claudia Robles.

#DefundHate

ICE is continuing to transfer people from facilities with #COVID19 outbreaks.

We are tracking these transfers on our map & in our biweekly updates #DefundHate
freedomforimmigrants.org/covid19

Thank you @JacksonLeeTX18 for bringing up the fact that ICE & CoreCivic prevented advocates from delivering masks to people detained at Otay Mesa.

The cruelty is the point.

#DefundHate

"You can't deal with a public health crisis by assuming that a virus is going to recognize borders, that it's going to recognize immigration status," - @RepMGS

#COVID19 does not discriminate. Neither should ICE when it comes to releasing people #FreeThemAll

#DefundHate

Thank you @RepZoeLofgren,@RepJerryNadler, @HouseJudiciary for holding this forum on ICE’s catastrophic response to #COVID19. We call on your leadership to hold ICE accountable by rejecting $ for ICE for future COVID-19 funding packages and instead direct ICE to #FreeThemAll.