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. 15 (July 2025).
Numbers matter
We primarily want this newsletter to be a place to highlight the voices and stories of our partners in ICE detention. With all that’s been happening in our country around immigration, though, it’s also crucial to look at some straight numbers to see the wide-ranging impacts changes in policy are having at all levels.
We track the names and numbers of the individuals passing through Clay County jail’s ICE detention almost daily. Similar to across the country, the numbers at the jail have risen starkly since January. In the table below, you’ll see the total number of people who moved into and out of the jail throughout a given month, along with the highest number of individuals in detention at the jail during a month. As a reminder, there are 10 blocks within the jail holding this number of individuals.
In May, Indiana AID paid over $3,560 in commissary payments, providing $20 to individuals’ accounts on a monthly basis. We paid almost $1,100 in books, buying 102 books for 93 detainees before we had to pause purchases. In June, we saw similar numbers in both commissary & books.
Other numbers of note:
- As of June 15th, more than 56,000 immigrants are in ICE custody, though top capacity is currently 41,000.1
- 71.7% of ICE immigrant detainees have no criminal record [1]
- 40,433 out of 56,397—or 71.7%—held in ICE detention have no criminal record, according to data current as of June 15, 2025. Many more have only minor offenses, including traffic violations.
- Immigration bonds are soaring. We can personally attest to multiple partners who had their bonds set north of $10,000.
- Immigration-related numbers as they are currently in the proposed Big Beautiful Bill [2]:
- $45 billion – immigration detention; $45 billion – border wall; $31 billion – ICE; $12 billion – DHS; $12 billion – CBP; and much, much more.
[1] https://tracreports.org/immigration/quickfacts/detention.html
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/30/upshot/senate-republican-megabill.html
Carlos’ journey
Carlos was 16 when he left his home country to come north to the USA. The journey north was a harrowing one, but he felt like it was his only option to escape violence in his home country and to seek a future in the US. Carlos saved up what he could before he left and he took a bus for part of his journey. There were days of walking and avoiding danger as he made his way up through different countries.
Carlos described what it was like to ride on the top of a train during his journey – “La Bestia” or “The Beast,” also known as “The Train of Death” and “The Train of the Unknowns.” La Bestia is a network of freight trains that many migrants board near the south end of Mexico to travel northward toward the U.S. It’s an incredibly dangerous journey as the trains weren’t meant to transport people. Carlos shared that he saw people fall from the train and die. People experienced major injuries, even lost limbs as they tried to catch the moving train; individuals were beaten and kidnapped along the route; people were exposed to the elements – the cold of night making it hard to sleep and the desert sun beating down during the day making it hard to hold on to anything.
Carlos made it to the Rio Grande river, where he was not a strong swimmer but fought the current to cross. As soon as he arrived, Carlos surrendered to U.S. Border Patrol officials. He was in their custody for seven days, then spent three and a half months in a facility for detained minors. Finally, Carlos was released to the custody of his older sister who lives in a tiny town in rural Indiana. There he went to high school for a year and a half. Carlos was detained at some point during this time and he spent his eighteenth birthday while in Clay County Jail. When he shared his story with us, Carlos was the youngest detainee in the ICE section at Clay. Since that time, though, we’ve continued to see more and more teenagers in detention – at the time of writing, there are currently six 18-19 year olds in ICE custody at Clay and 16 in detention who are 21 or younger.
Rain over my pillow
(The sad wailing of an immigrant’s child)
I wake up empty and sad on a rainy day,
my dog licking tears up from my face.
Is that rain all over my pillow?
He knows about my sorrow and pain…
I miss my best friend, my confidant, my hero,
When is he finally going to come back?
Oh please, please, God! Have mercy on my dad!
By my side I keep my mother, but please, Lord,
Help me out to free my father!
I miss him, I need him,
I need my role model.
I want back our weekends having dinner,
Going fishing, me and him at the river or the lake,
Being happy is no mistake.
I know he misses his sons and his daughter,
Oh, sweet Lord! Please have mercy on my father!
Victim of the “crooked system,” he has lost his name,
Now, he is just an “Alien Number”!
A question running in my head…
Did he come from outer space?
And, to you, the people about to judge him…
Where did the father of the father of your father come from?
I wonder!
Don’t we all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
You are violating my rights by breaking my family apart!
How do you sleep at night being aware of that??
Judging people for their color or their lineage,
aren’t we all been created in God’s own image
Your ancestors came and took over other people’s lands one day,
Why do you want to run my dad away?
He is just an immigrant that came from afar,
He made some mistakes and already paid for that.
You keep reprimanding him,
And punishing me by taking him away from me!
He broke the law and paid to the society his debt.
When did your ancestors pay for theirs?
Don’t worry, I’ll wait!
Calling my father “illegal”
Because he doesn’t own a “Social Security number,”
What is so illegal about him when you agree to take his money??
Before the eyes of God,
My father is as legal as you and me
and “WE THE PEOPLE” that reside here.
Somebody already said once:
Why build fences and walls? Better build roads and bridges!
Let people be free to walk!
Stop using the same old method,
It’s been proven it doesn’t work!
We have never seen a Native American running for President or Governor,
Maybe one day I’ll run for it!
And perhaps I won’t fight fire with fire,
but I will combat “ICE’’ with “AID.”
One nation under God? … come on …
…Oh, sweet Lord, please have mercy on my dad.
– Miguel Ávila
*ICE – Immigration and Customs Enforcement
*AID – Assistance for Immigrants in Detention
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
- Volunteer coordination experience
- Financial support/fundraising experience
- Social media support and data input
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: “Artwork by an incredibly talented detained partner.” Credit: Indiana AID.