Stopping ICE Hold Requests

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, April 9, 2012
Angie Junck, Immigrant Legal Resource Center: 415-321-8558
ajunck@ilrc.org
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Stop your local law enforcement from holding immigrants for ICE!

The National Immigration Project, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the Immigrant Defense Project, the Washington Defenders Association, and the National Immigration Law Center have produced a new resource for organizers and advocates to prevent deportations in our communities: The All-in-One Guide to Defeating ICE Hold Requests

As Secure Communities continues to expand and deportations reach record numbers, communities have sought new ways to push back against these ICE programs and removals. From Santa Clara County, CA to Cook County, Illinois to New York City, communities have demanded that local law enforcement stop submitting to ICE hold requests.

When someone is booked into a local jail, on any charges, ICE issues a hold request to that jail, asking to keep the person locked up for an extra 48 hours so that ICE can come get them and deport them.  These hold requests are the functional tool that underlies Secure Communities, 287(g), and the Criminal Alien Program.  If communities refuse to submit to ICE hold requests, then immigrants who are released from jail are able to go back home to their families, instead of being snatched away to immigration detention and deportation.

The Guide to Defeating ICE Hold Requests is a manual for communities to understand how immigration enforcement works, and to engage with local law enforcement and policy-makers to pass laws and policies against hold requests.  It includes organizing suggestions, details about ICE hold requests and how they work, legal and policy analyses, messaging advice, and sample materials.

“We emphasize throughout that people should contact us for individual assistance,” said Lena Graber, author and Soros Justice Fellow at the National Immigration Project.  “A few communities have taken a strong stance against ICE holds, and we are collaborating with people around the country to replicate these efforts.”

“There are a lot of confusing technical details underlying the relationships between ICE and local law enforcement,” Graber added.  “The Guide is designed to help communities get better information and plan their campaigns strategically.”

The All-in-One Guide to Defeating ICE Hold Requests is available on the National Immigration Project's website:http://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/community/All_in_One_Guide_to_Defeating_ICE_Hold_Requests.pdf