Thread by @matt_cam

1/ BREAKING: 51 #ICE detainees in the Bristol county jail have just jointly signed a letter detailing the circumstances of their detention and their fears of #covid19 while trapped in unsafe, unsanitary, unfit conditions.

They must be heard.

#FreeThemAll #mapoli

2/ Even during this crisis attorney Ira Alkalay is still doing incredible work on behalf of detainees in Bristol, who can still meet with him behind glass. He was given this letter (already sent to authorities) this morning.

It is, to say the least, alarming.

3/ The sheer inhumanity at work in this paragraph caught my breath.

Just sit with it for a few seconds before you keep reading.

4/ Here are the demands of these 51 detainees who are now facing down a mass pandemic locked up in the Bristol House of Correction, by far the worst ICE facility in Massachusetts. They are more than reasonable under any circumstances, but especially these.

#mapoli

5/ If you have a minute (and who doesn't right now?) send these brave detainees a note of encouragement today. I can't even imagine what it must feel like for them right now.

They need to know that people of conscience stand with them.

6/ The letter is signed by the hand of 51 detainees, and there is no possible doubt as to its veracity. Their solidarity is especially essential here given the Bristol county sheriff's well-known acts of retaliation--as close to legal torture is possible--against whistleblowers

7/ Here are their signatures, zoomed out both to get all of them in one place and to keep their names from being immediately legible. (They made no request for privacy and have asked the letter to be printed in its entirety, but confidentiality is a hard habit to break.)

8/ This addendum was attached to the end of the letter. I am doing my part to honor this request, and hope that you will too.

#FreeThemAll #mapoli

9/ For those reading this who aren't already aware: NO ONE in ICE custody is being held on criminal charges, but merely civil immigration violations. If they have crim records they are typically driving/drug-related. ~50% are here legally.

RELEASE THEM NOW.

Thanks to @sweetadelinevt for getting this out so quickly. FWIW, Bristol's denial that detainees were told that we all know is going to happen is going to happen rings false. Of course someone told them that, if only to have them protect themselves

commonwealthmagazine.org/immigration/de…