The Indianapolis Liberation Center is proud to distribute the Indiana Assistance to Immigrants in Detention monthly newsletter and are excited about collaborating with and supporting the important work they lead. The updates, information, and more that follow are from Vol. 13 (February 2025).
Introduction
As we join our community in the feelings of uncertainty and heaviness that surround us, we also recognize how important it is to highlight and celebrate the wins as they come along. We invite you to join us in celebrating the wonderful news that one of our dedicated volunteers, Miguel, received at the start of this month – his deportation order has been canceled! At his most recent immigration hearing, the judge removed the deportation order and gave permission for Miguel to apply for a visa that, if granted, will be a step on the path toward permanent residency! We are so excited for Miguel and for his family, and for the amazing testimony that Miguel continues to write with his life.
We first met Miguel while he was in ICE detention at the Clay County jail. He was released after 9.5 months, at the time one of the longest detention periods at that facility. Even though he was out on bond, his immigration case continued and he didn’t know what the outcome would be. That didn’t stop him from quickly joining us as a volunteer with Indiana AID. Miguel has been using his time meeting virtually with multiple partners, communicating with partners’ family members, writing poetry (some of which have been shared in previous newsletters), speaking at rallies, and being a huge source of encouragement in our monthly in-person visits to the individuals held in ICE detention at Clay County jail.
At last month’s visit, Miguel had been communicating with the wife of one of the detained individuals; she had just had a baby and the gentleman had not yet seen the baby because they couldn’t make the virtual visit system work. Miguel had the woman send him photos of the baby, which he printed and then called the man forward when we visited his block. All of the men in the block cheered and clapped as the man saw pictures of his baby for the first time.
While Miguel was in ICE detention, he received a prophetic word from another detainee in the block, Daniel, who led daily Bible studies with the men there. Daniel shared with Miguel that he’d had a dream and, in that dream, he’d seen that Miguel was going to get out of detention. At the time, there was no chance of a bond in Miguel’s case, so he didn’t see how that was going to happen. Daniel continued – he’d seen Miguel was going to get out; he was going to connect with a group of like-minded people; and he was going to walk back through those jail doors, dressed in a blue suit, and would speak hope and life into the people still detained there. Miguel never forgot those words, though he didn’t see how they could be more than just a dream. We’re here to tell you – Miguel looks pretty great in that blue suit every month.
The red card is working!
From the Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s “Red Cards” – available in 19 languages
The New York Times recently published an article about the “Know Your Rights” Red Cards that are having a big impact on country’s immigrant community: “…asserting the rights outlined on the red card could be the difference between being deported and staying in the country.”
We are grateful for the hard work that the community is doing to share Know Your Rights information with our immigrant neighbors – through conversations; printing and passing out flyers and pamphlets; holding virtual presentations; showing up for rallies and protests; getting together in community centers to share information and resources; printing and passing out “Red Cards”; and in so many other creative ways. We are grateful to join alongside in many of these endeavors.
We recognize that this is and will continue to be a scary time for many in our community. What we’re seeing is that this effort to share the information far and wide is making a difference. When people are educated about their rights, especially the “Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and the Fourth Amendment right to refuse entry to the home unless an agent has a warrant signed by a judge,” it has a huge impact on their safety. In the vast majority of cases, ICE agents will NOT have a judicial warrant. They may claim they have a warrant, because that word carries a lot of authority and fear behind it, but it is most often an administrative warrant, which does not grant them the authority to enter premises without a person’s consent.
Judicial Warrant:
- Issued by a judicial court (federal or state);
- Correct address of the location ICE wants to enter; correct name of the person in question;
- Correct date and is shown to you within the time-frame listed in the warrant date;
- Signed by a Judge/Magistrate.
If any detail is incorrect or not filled out, it is not enforceable
Administrative Warrant:
- Issued by a federal agency (DHS, USCIS, CBP, or ICE), not a court);
- Labeled “Warrant for Arrest” or “Warrant of Removal,” may have word, “Alien;”
- Signed by immigration judge or immigration officer.
- We’ve recently learned of ICE officers carrying blank immigration warrants until an arrest and then filling out the warrant afterward.
Asylum denied: The story of “S”
In her home country in Africa, S. worked for an organization that was investigating the country’s previous government. They discovered that someone was still using credit cards belonging to that previous government. As a direct result of this investigative work, S. was kidnapped. Her teeth were knocked out and she was threatened with death if she continued. S. was then released. Her family and friends advised her to leave the country because her enemies were powerful. Her family borrowed money to send her across the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil.
From Brazil, S. traveled overland through the Darién gap in Panama and up through Central America in a journey that lasted several months. She presented herself as an asylum seeker at the Mexico-US border. After three days of detention at the border, S. was given a court date in January, 2024, and went to a Midwestern city where she stayed with her older brother. Sadly, the city where she lived was some distance from Chicago, where the court was located. She did not speak English and did not know her way around. Her brother was working and her uncle, who lived in the same city, had gone back to their home country for her grandmother’s funeral, so S. did not have a way to get to Chicago. With help from relatives, her brother hired an attorney, but S. was not convinced that the lawyer was working hard on her case, especially when a junior colleague came instead of the senior lawyer. Finally, S. was summoned to an appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the city where she was living. When she arrived at the appointment, S. was arrested and detained at Clay County Jail in Brazil, Indiana.
S. was detained in Clay for close to 4 months. The women in her block were supportive and S. began learning a little Spanish, since the others in the block spoke only Spanish and/or English. S. shared that she found the unfamiliar food hard to digest but tried to eat it anyway. The block always felt frigid to her; she spent the first commissary money she received on a long-sleeved T-shirt as she was so cold she could hardly sleep. Her first request to Indiana AID was for a French Bible, which her partner ordered and she received. Having been a Christian for years, she found it comforting to read the Bible.
S. said that the immigration judge was not convinced of the credibility of her fear so denied her asylum plea. Her attorney sent a letter to the court but it was rejected. She consulted the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago and was told that they could not do anything as she was already in deportation proceedings. Our last communication before S. left the jail was that she was waiting to hear when she will be deported back to her home country.
Get involved!
Contact us
- email: emailaid.contact@gmail.com
- phone (voicemail only): 317-721-4044
- IndianaAID.org
- Facebook and Instagram
Volunteer
Currently, our greatest needs are for:
- Spanish-speaking visitation partners
- Visitation partners who speak languages other than English and Spanish
- Financial support/fundraising experience
- Website and social media specialists
Donate
- Indiana AID is a volunteer group funded 100% on donations. Please consider a tax-deductible donation here!
- Shalom Mennonite Church is our fiscal sponsor-you will be taken to their site’s giving page where you will first select an amount to give and then choose the fund where you would like your money to go, “Indiana AID Fund.” None of the money donated to Indiana AID goes to the church’s budget.
- You can also donate by sending a check to the church with “Indiana AID” in the memo line.
Shalom Mennonite Church
6100 E 32nd St.
Indianapolis, IN 46226
Featured photo: Miguel speaking at the We Fight Back! counter-inauguration rally on January 20.