This week, 70 migrants who were detained in a prison of the Control and Customs Service (ICE) were transferred without prior notice from New York to other states of the country as far away as Mississippi; this without prior notice, relatives and activists denounced this Friday.
Activists claim that this action is retaliation by ICE after the federal government began an investigation after they denounced the inhumane conditions in which migrants were allegedly detained in the Orange County jail in New York.
Background. The organization Freedom for Immigrants denounced this situation in February before a federal court in New York, as a consequence, the state took legal action.
- The group of activists expect the investigation to conclude in the coming months.
- They consider that this complaint is due to retaliation.
- ICE says this is a routine procedure.
The complaint of the activists. In a press conference, the organization explained that the incident occurred “in the middle of the night” on July 25.
- Authorities shackled the feet, hands and waist of the detained migrants, most of them Latino, to transfer them to another prison. This without prior notification.
- The detainees were in a room devoid of air conditioning for several hours and hydrated for a long time.
Family testimony. Evelyn, whose 18-year-old son is among the group of 70 transferred migrants, said through tears: “My son called me and said ‘mom, something is going to happen here because they are turning all the lights on and off,'” from the area. Where were the ICE detainees?
- The 34-year-old woman did not find out what happened until Tuesday, when her son briefly called her from Mississippi to tell her what happened: “He told me that (before the transfer) they threw away everything they had” in the cells.
- She explained that her son, who was not identified by her, left the house to buy milk and that he was detained by ICE agents who were waiting for him outside the family home.
- Agents called her daughter and told her “they won’t deport her because she has a young child, but they put an electronic shackle on her.”
Main source: EFE