About

Due to our massive prison system and increasingly punitive immigration system, forced removals are on the rise. Yet the combined impacts of these two systems are rarely discussed. The truth is that over 2.3 million people are held in American jails and prisons at any given time, and that nearly 400,000 immigrants are deported each year. These policies of containment and removal come at an enormous cost to communities, families and taxpayers. These forced removals require a sustained, courageous, and visionary grassroots response.

The intersections between issues of mass incarceration and mass detention/forced removal are myriad. We offer just a few below:

If you go to jail or prison you are:
• Branded as a “criminal” and treated as less than human.
• Forcibly moved to an unknown place..
• Separated from your family, without the possibility for regular visits.
• Taken away from your community and any support systems you have.
• Stripped of citizenship rights, some temporarily and some permanently.
• Marginalized economically, so that employment prospects become even narrower.

If you are detained or deported you are:
• Branded as an “illegal” and treated as less than human.
• Forcibly moved to an unknown place.
• Separated from your family, without the possibility for regular visits.
• Taken away from your community and any support systems you have.
• Denied the possibility of residency, no matter how long you’ve lived in the US.
• Marginalized economically, so that employment prospects become even narrower.

This website is designed to promote events that address the injustices in our prison and immigration systems. Through regular events that build bridges across organizations and communities, we hope to foster a culture of citywide solidarity around these intersecting issues. Please take time to explore each of the events, resources, and campaigns featured on this site. Working together, we can create lasting changes that strengthen our society for all.