Thread by @tramontela

I want to tell you about Saidu Sow, who is on a deportation plane to Mauritania, a country he fled decades ago. He had been in immig. jail for 3 years. In 2018, he called me from Butler Co. Jail. He carried a file of country evidence with him, knowing this day would come.

Saidu was scared, but he's a fighter. My friend Don Sherman went to meet with him in the jail.

Saidu showed him his scars from the torture he bore in Mauritania. He said "there's no way I can go back there."

We said we'd fight with him to keep him safe.

Said was moved around Ohio immigration jails while his case played out. He had terrific pro bono attorneys from @CCSWOH + @ABLELawInc (@mariaaleote). That was his only luck.

He got his old deportation case reopened and a second chance at asylum. But that was just a formality.

Supporters showed up at his first bond hearing (us in CLE courtroom with the judge, him supposed to be on video from the jail, how is that fair?) but ICE had "accidentally" transferred him to a jail that doesn't have video hearings. 🤔🤔🤔

us.blastingnews.com/news/2019/02/i…

Second bond hearing - denied. Asylum + all other forms of relief - denied.

Judge didn't believe his account of arrest + torture in Mauritania. "Were you 'released' from jail there or did you 'escape'?"

FACTS: a guard took pity on Saidu + released him w/o permission. He had to run, he wasn't let out the front door. Release AND escape. Judge Hunsucker used English words to justify adverse credibility finding for a man who thinks in Fulani. (Judge was promoted to BIA.)

But Saidu persevered. With COVID looming, he + others began to sound the alarm about unsanitary practices at Morrow Co. Jail that would lead to outbreak + death. prospect.org/justice/as-cov… @Marcia_Brown9

Sheriff + ICE said they were lies, but everything they told us was true. EVERYTHING. We knew about COVID in jail before county health district. Drug smuggling + overdoses (county inmates), suicide, escapes reported by Saidu + others b4 authorities.

Sheriff wanted a coverup, control the narrative. Saidu + others wouldn't let him. They bravely kept sharing info, which we took to media to hold jail accountable.

As predicted, jail became 100% infected.
mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/202… @lwhitmir

Oscar Lopez died. motherjones.com/politics/2020/… @nlanard

Saidu got COVID. Asked for Tylenol + part-time nurse (no doctor) said no, wanted to see how long it took for his body to fight virus. Human medical experimentation. Black Muslim immigration detainee in an all-white County Jail.

.@goldsgracie talked to Saidu about some of the racism there: thecollegianmagazine.com/inside-morrow-…

COs said if 45 lost 2020 election, there would be a war.

.@acluohio sued + won release of many ICE detainees, but not Saidu. His information was critical to the lawsuit.

Trump-appointed Judge Sarah D. Morrison issued scathing order criticizing the jail and ICE. Worth a read: ohioimmigrant.org/2020/05/18/hig…

Saidu got better. He spent another birthday in jail. ohioimmigrant.org/2020/06/08/mor…
He got COVID again. ICE stopped sending detained people to Morrow bc of its incompetence.

Saidu was transferred to Butler Co. Jail. #CloseMorrowJail

Again, racism + abuse of ICE detainees in an Ohio county jail. Had been going on for years, but brave detainees + willing civil rights lawyers combined to file a federal lawsuit. citybeat.com/news/blog/2114… @CityBeatCincy #ICEOutOfButler

ICE deported key witness despite judge's order.

columbusfreepress.com/article/update… @ColsFreePress

They were ITCHING to deport Saidu. Tried everything possible to get rid of him before Biden. His Deportation Officer had a particular bias against him bc he refused to be meek and hand her his power.

January came and went. I naively thought the Biden admin would release him.

Weeks turned into months. His DO worked the system to keep him in jail.

This month, they sent him to Louisiana, Florida, Virginia, and 2 other states before he landed in Arizona.

Now he's on a plane back to Mauritania and we are all praying he is safe.

If you want to donate to Saidu's new start, you can donate here: bit.ly/SaiduAndBayong.

The first thing he's going to do is buy a cell phone. And then, he'll figure out the next steps.

He keeps moving. Never able to feel settled.

He is excited about appearing in a book coming out this August, "Far From Their Eyes: Ohio Migration Anthology, Volume I." @goldsgracie interviewed him while he was in the Butler Co. Jail and transcribed some of their conversation.

bit.ly/OMAVolumeOne

He's also thinking about other ways he can use his experience to help people, once he finds a home.

Who better to assist refugees and advocate than a person who has been through it all and come out on the other side?

Langston Hughes wrote:

I loved my friend
He went away from me
There's nothing more to say
The poem ends,
Soft as it began-
I loved my friend.

Saidu, my friend, I hope you read this some day. You touched many lives. We love you + will see you in the next chapter. #AbolishICE