ICE is OUT of Morrow – Unusual Valentine

In 2020, grassroots donors made a HUGE difference in the lives of immigrants battling deportation. Donations from $5 – $500 showed detained and deported immigrants that there are people out there who care about them, see their humanity, and stand with them despite the U.S. government’s cruelty.

The Biden Administration announced a lot of important immigration policy changes, but Trump-era policies continue to be enforced to this day. That is why we are still actively seeking donations.

When we help people on your behalf, we take the responsibility very seriously and dispense your money carefully. Here are some of the ways grassroots donors and Ohio Immigrant Alliance helped immigrants and their families in 2020:

• Diop, a man seeking asylum from Mauritania, was able to get bonded out of immigration jail and join family in Ohio, where he continues to pursue asylum. Here, he is taking his first steps on U.S. soil as a free man. His driver, who was also once detained in this immigration jail, called it “The Walk of Freedom.”
• Despite losing their deportation battles, “J” was able to rent a room in a safer area of Jamaica after his deportation; Mory, “O,” and “C” received some survival money after being deported to Guinea, Somalia, and Cameroon.
• We funded “quarantine hotels” for several people released from ICE jail due to risk of serious COVID reactions, so that they could isolate for 14 days as per CDC protocols.
• Ibrahima, Issa, and “G”‘s families in Ohio were able to get some much-needed emergency funds. Their wives and children remain in Ohio, some with medical problems that cannot be adequately cared for if they were to join their fathers in Africa. Deportation took both loving fathers AND primary financial providers from these families. Now, they have to try to support two households (one in Ohio and one in Africa) on low or non-existent incomes, during the COVID crisis.
• We paid filing fees for “S” to take his case to federal court. He is also an Ohio father of young children (incidentally, all of whom are U.S. citizens).
• We put money on commissary accounts for scores of people detained in Ohio immigration jails and beyond, including brave immigrants who spoke up about police abuse in ICE jail and filed a lawsuit to hold their abusers to account.

As you can see, our donations are both humanitarian and also (often, but not exclusively) part of advocacy strategies. You can support our latest campaign, #ReuniteUS, with a donation here. These funds will be used for promotional materials, stipends for active participants (deported immigrants/family members), and legal and other needs.

Whether you can donate today or not, please sign this petition to the Biden Administration calling for #ReuniteUS, and then send it to 5 friends!

Yesterday, a friend who was a crucial whistleblower in the Morrow County Jail campaign called to say the jail is now 100% ICE-free. He is still detained, in another Ohio jail. Here is what he said:

I’m glad this happened, but I wish they listened earlier. ICE is gone, but there are still people there for other reasons. They don’t deserve this treatment either.

He’s talking about the people detained in Morrow County on criminal charges. Most if not all of them are U.S. citizens from the local area. He said this, despite the fact that some of them behaved in racist ways toward him and other men on ICE holds. This is the kind of compassion and humanity that exists among people our federal government insists on dehumanizing and kicking out of our country. In my eyes, they would make some of the best citizens if given a chance. I know you agree.

Our friend has already spent 2.5 years in Ohio immigration jails. It’s far past time for him and others to be released. Let’s get him out, #FreeThemAll, and #ReuniteUS, together.