cultura_movement on Instagram: "I spent this morning at an ICE detention facility.I was there to visit a man named Miguel—a friend of a friend who was picked up by…"
I spent this morning at an ICE detention facility.I was there to visit a man named Miguel—a friend of a friend who was picked up by ICE about a month ago. Actually, “picked up” is not the right phrase. Miguel was assaulted on his way home from work by a group of masked men spilling out of an unmarked vehicle.On Inauguration Day (January 20th, 2025), Donald Trump signed into law Executive Order 14159 titled, “Protecting The American People Against Invasion.” This order overturns several of the previous administration’s immigration policies and directs federal agencies, ICE in particular, to aggressively pursue the arrest and prosecution of all noncitizens regardless of their situation. Miguel, along with thousands of others, has been caught in the wake of this Executive Order and the Trump Administration’s sanctioning of illegal and violent immigration enforcement measures. Since his brutal arrest, Miguel has spent the last month in this detention facility without any information about his current status or what comes next. He hasn’t even been allowed visitors; thankfully, after weeks of petitioning, we were finally able to get a clergy visit granted, and I was allowed to visit him. As I drove toward the detention center, I was struck by the presence of a mega church less than a mile from the prison entrance. Later, I asked one of the guards if church members ever came by to visit the detainees. “No. Why would they?” he curtly replied. I arrived fifteen minutes before the schedule visit alongside my friend, Daniela, who has known Miguel for years and would help translate our conversation. We were originally told I could take communion to Miguel, so I packed my travel kit handed down to me by a pastor who used it to visit those who were homebound or in prison. But during the check-in process, I was told I could not share communion with Miguel. “Nothing is allowed in or out,” the receptionist said.Continued in comments 👇🏽
