The pro-criminal lobby is working hard to keep convicted criminals who are also illegal aliens here in California—and on our streets to commit more crimes. The rationalize this by saying the illegal alien convicts “have served their time”. True, for the crimes they committee against our citizens—NOT for the crime for invading our nation.
““The prison-to-ICE pipeline destroys countless lives and exacerbates the injustices served upon communities of color. It propagates the existing racial disparities of over-policing, profiling, and convictions into the immigration system,” said Laura Hernández, executive director of Freedom for Immigrants. “Project Keep Away will help bridge our advocacy at the intersection of the immigration and carceral systems as we fight for the fundamental rights I and so many others in our communities have been systematically denied. Dismantling both of these systems is key to freeing people from the bonds of prisons and detention centers in the short-term and weakening these institutions in the long-term.”
People in prison may not even fully know their risk of transfer to ICE detention. Sometimes, jails and prisons work directly with ICE, calling the agency to pick up someone upon their release. ICE agents may also show up because they found out on their own that someone they want to arrest is scheduled for release. When this happens, immigrants are punished twice for the same conviction, and this double punishment particularly reinforces systemic racism. Black people make up over 20 percent of those facing deportation on criminal grounds despite accounting for only seven percent of non-citizens.”
We are NOT deporting any immigrants. It is the illegal alien that is being deported. They have committed two crimes—one, a State crime like rape, assault, dui, etc. Then they have committed a Federal crime, sneaking into our nation without permission.
Freedom for Immigrants Launches New Initiative to Disrupt Prison-to-ICE Pipeline
Project Keep Away: At convergence of prison and immigration systems, program aims to prevent detentions and advance abolitionist, intersectional organizing
Jeff Migliozzi, Freedom for immigrants, 6/16/25 freedomforimmigrants.org
LOS ANGELES — Freedom for Immigrants (FFI) today launched Project Keep Away, an initiative devoted to preventing prison-to-immigration detention transfers by empowering community members both inside and outside of prisons with educational resources and programming as well as a live, free helpline available to people inside two California prisons.
Nationally, about 70 percent of people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are transferred directly from the prison system into ICE custody. Many individuals are re-incarcerated by ICE the very same day they would otherwise walk free despite already serving their time and completing their sentence. In California alone, roughly 1,500 incarcerated people earn release from prison each year, only to be transferred to immigration detention centers.
“The prison-to-ICE pipeline destroys countless lives and exacerbates the injustices served upon communities of color. It propagates the existing racial disparities of over-policing, profiling, and convictions into the immigration system,” said Laura Hernández, executive director of Freedom for Immigrants. “Project Keep Away will help bridge our advocacy at the intersection of the immigration and carceral systems as we fight for the fundamental rights I and so many others in our communities have been systematically denied. Dismantling both of these systems is key to freeing people from the bonds of prisons and detention centers in the short-term and weakening these institutions in the long-term.”
People in prison may not even fully know their risk of transfer to ICE detention. Sometimes, jails and prisons work directly with ICE, calling the agency to pick up someone upon their release. ICE agents may also show up because they found out on their own that someone they want to arrest is scheduled for release. When this happens, immigrants are punished twice for the same conviction, and this double punishment particularly reinforces systemic racism. Black people make up over 20 percent of those facing deportation on criminal grounds despite accounting for only seven percent of non-citizens.
“That individual thinks they’re about to reunite with their loved ones and rebuild their life. Instead, they are caged — often indefinitely — and further traumatized at an immigration detention center,” continued Hernández. “If you’re an immigrant, the injustice of incarceration does not end with the completion of a prison sentence. We must disrupt this overly-punitive and criminalizing system of double punishment and prevent more transfers. Project Keep Away will empower the community to do just that as we continue to push for more long-term legislative solutions that roll back these outdated, racist laws entirely.”
Individuals at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) or the California Institution for Women (CIW) at risk of transfer to ICE custody can call (209) 757-3733 from Monday-Thursday between 10am and 8pm PT to get context about ICE detention and learn what to expect in the face of re-incarceration. Those outside detention can also access in-person educational resources and Know Your Rights trainings and materials.
In line with FFI’s new mission statement and theory of change, stopping ICE detainers that feed the prison-to-ICE pipeline is crucial to disrupting the larger detention and deportation dragnet and working intersectionally toward the abolition of all forms of incarceration.
Learn more about Project Keep Away.
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Freedom for Immigrants is an immigrant-led, abolitionist organization working to end immigration incarceration by organizing with and following the leadership of currently and formerly incarcerated immigrants. We’re building a future in which all people can move freely and thrive. Learn more at www.freedomforimmigrants.org/.
