Author: JHISN

JHISN Newsletter 08/29/2026

Posted on August 29, 2026 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

As promised, ICE has ramped up its activities in New York, and significantly in Queens. Organizations like the Deportation Project are keeping us all informed through Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, which force the federal government to share its enforcement data. Locally, ICE watch groups are also on the lookout, and rapid responders (still mostly women) are hitting the streets when ICE sightings are reported. In July, a new high of 804 arrests were made in NYC. 80% of nationwide detentions were of people with no criminal history. Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, and Corona are all in the top 5 of NY neighborhoods with the highest arrest reports.

Our newsletter delves into the overreach of Homeland Security as ICE grabs at yet more data in its attempt to locate people to deport: this time it is the details stored in commercial drivers license databases maintained by states. But the states are fighting back with lawsuits to prevent them. Following a “Know Your Rights Week” in Queens we also look at the reticence by Democrats, locally and nationally, to call for the full abolition of ICE, even though no one is happy with their hateful and hurtful and harmful tactics.  

Newsletter highlights:

  1. NY in the fight to keep commercial drivers license data private
  2. The call to abolish ICE has been losing steam

1. Feds Demand Access to State Commercial Drivers’ License Databases

The Trump administration wants states to allow access to their drivers’ license databases. This would permit the federal government to see the personal information of 17 million commercial drivers nationwide. The databases include names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of holders of commercial driver’s licenses. A multistate coalition of 21 state attorneys general (including New York and New Jersey) has filed a lawsuit to prevent access. If states do not comply, the federal government threatens to withhold funding for the databases. The legal issue is privacy and control over huge amounts of personal information.

The federal government has not stated what it plans to do with the information. Still, the lawyers believe the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, part of the Department of Transportation, plans to share the information with DHS for use in immigration enforcement, whether or not the information is accurate.

How the CDLIS data grab fits into the data sets Homeland Security has already grabbed.

 

In a statement, DHS said the administration is targeting dangerous “illegal aliens” whom it says don’t know traffic laws or English and criticized politicians who allow dangerous drivers on the road. The order demanding information was issued in February 2026 by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. It cites seventeen crashes involving non-domiciled drivers (less than 0.5% of all fatal crashes). This followed Duffy’s September 2025 order removing nearly 3000 commercial driver training centers from approved provider lists.

In fact, requirements for commercial drivers’ licenses are very detailed and include criminal background checks, drug use tests, written tests, and behind-the-wheel (BTW) tests. There are different requirements for passenger vehicles, taxis, school buses, trucks of different types, construction equipment, and hazardous materials driving. All tests are in English.

In addition, New York used to have a “non-domiciled” program, which allowed drivers who do not reside in the state, including immigrants legally in the United States, to obtain commercial licenses. However, after pressure from the government, the program was halted. Now this statement appears on the DMV website: “DMV offices are temporarily unable to accept an application for a Commercial Learner Permit (CLP) or CDL document if you are not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (i.e., temporary visitors).” 

How will the government’s access to the database affect New Yorkers? New York officials and labor leaders say thousands of immigrant drivers, including MTA bus drivers and school bus drivers could lose their jobs. Some foreign drivers have already been unable to renew their commercial licenses.

Paul Quinn Mori, president of the New York School Bus Contractors Association, said about 5% of the state’s yellow bus drivers are licensed through the “non-domiciled” program. There is already a shortage of school bus drivers.

The lawsuit states, “The chilling effect of the transfer of data is particularly acute for some individuals who are concerned in general about disclosing their personal information to the federal government, such as noncitizens who are legally present in the United States and lawfully qualified to obtain a CDL, or individuals who are part of mixed-status immigration families.”

Attorney General Letitia James has said, “The Trump administration is attempting to seize confidential state records without any lawful justification. New Yorkers provide their personal information to the state with the expectation that it will be protected, not handed over to anyone who demands it.”

On August 20, U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga granted the states’ request for a temporary restraining order. That prevents the federal government from obtaining the states’ records from the Commercial Driver’s License Information System, or CDLIS, while the court considers whether to issue a preliminary injunction.

What Can We Do?

2. Democrats Divided over Demand to Abolish ICE

“In the final week of July, we saw an amazing effort on their [ICE] part to rip away community members from this community, specifically here in Corona, where over half of reported detentions and kidnappings happened in this neighborhood.”—New York Immigration Coalition President and CEO Murad Awawdeh

Shanel Thomas-Henry, born and raised in Corona and East Elmhurst, represents City Council 21, which includes Corona, East Elmhurst, Lefrak, and Jackson Heights. Since her district is the heart of ICE actions in NYC, she might seem to be a natural voice of opposition to ICE’s very existence. Yet she faces the same challenge that Democrats are struggling with nationally: a lack of consensus about what the future of ICE should be.

This month, she joined a rally at Corona Plaza organized by Larinda Hooks, whose Assembly District 35 covers much of the same areas of Queens as Thomas-Henry. The August 10 rally was a protest against the notable increase of ICE removing people from their streets. Last June there were just two people taken. In the two weeks prior to the rally there were 14. One every day. It was stressed that none of the people ICE took had criminal records. Jessica González-Rojas spoke at the rally and said, “Every single day, we get text messages from ICE watchers saying that ICE is in our communities. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business owner. Doesn’t matter if you’re a five-year-old child. They are coming after all of us.”

Recent neighborhood sightings reported by ICE watching groups:

  • 8/21@9:25am: Two ICE SUVs circling 85th Street and 31st Ave.
  • 8/22@6:05pm: 4 ICE agents in a Jeep stop car on 77th St. and 30th Ave
  • 8/24@: spotted ICE pickup used in a July 30 kidnapping.
  • 8/25@9:25am: ICE vehicle at 99th st. btw. 34th and Northern. Community responder peppersprayed by ICE at 9:50am. 7 vehicles circling North Corona up to noon.
  • 8/26@8:03am: 3 confirmed ICE vehicles at 100 St between 34th and 35th Aves. Also 101 St. btw. 37th and 34th Aves. All cars left the block after community members showed up and began whistling & making noise!
  • 8/26@9.50am: ICE circling around 85-06 Roosevelt Ave
  • 8/26@1:37pm: Active Kidnapping on Northern Blvd. btw. 96th and 97th Sts.
  • 8/28@11:00am: 6 ICE agents in 4 cars seen in Corona
  • 8/28@4:29pm: 5 ICE agents tackled someone to the ground. Northern Blvd. at 108th St.

Neither Hooks, nor Thomas-Henry had signed a July letter calling on Democratic leadership to abolish ICE in order to restore public safety. They continue to believe the issue is not the Department of Homeland Security itself but the tactics of enforcement. Hooks’ Not-In-My-Backyard thinking suggests that introducing laws to restrict local police collaborating with ICE agents means ICE will look for people elsewhere. Her approach will not address the issue of a massively funded agency acting with impunity for pepper spraying a 72 year-old filming their activities or targeting out-of-state cars for search as a pretence to find immigrants to deport—vehicle stops are happening more frequently in College Point and also have made national news when the legally present father of an active-duty sailor on the USS Lincoln was taken into custody by ICE after a traffic stop in Florida.

Thomas-Henry claims that ICE existed for a reason before Trump and, before the rally, said it was important to “look at changing the laws that allow them to deport individuals on minor traffic offenses.” She ran as a progressive to win her seat against Francisco Moya, but she describes her approach to ICE as looking at the many layers. Her stance is similar to that of the Senate and House Minority Leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. They talk of adding guardrails instead of a total overhaul to a department that was born out of fear and suspicion of identity within US borders.

Some Democrats are pointing out how the expansion of ICE actions is spilling into the policing of more aspects of social life, including the increasing likelihood of ICE deploying to polling places during midterm elections or leveraging private Medicaid data. Only the Democratic Socialist movement and progressive candidates are taking the strong abolition stance against ICE, including NY Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Centrist democrats worry that such candidates will hurt the Democratic Party. Last month, a bill was submitted by three progressives, all immigrants themselves, who described ICE as “too corrupt to reform“. Yet the Democrat leaders continue to express their skepticism about abolishing ICE.

Polls showed that back in February 2026 support for abolishing ICE had grown, for the first time, to 50%—with only 39% opposing abolition. Even 23% of Republicans supported its abolition.

In July, an additional YouGov poll showed that Democrat support for abolition had actually dropped 4 points to 73%. For Independents, it grew 4 points to 52%, and, even for Republicans, support for abolition grew 1 point to 24%. Overall, due only to the Democrat responses, support for abolition support had dropped to 48%. 

DNC Chairman Ken Martin noted that “Clearly, the one thing that unites Democrats, regardless of their position on reform versus abolish or whatever other ways to change what’s happening, is people believe that what ICE is doing right now — and CBP and the federal government — should stop.” This year State Futures published a report showing 242 bills were introduced to prevent federal encroachment by regulating federal immigration: about a fifth of them passed. While the report indicates that all the bills submitted in New York were passed, it also notes that they were only part of the NY For All and the MELT bills: so they are not reflective of all the legislation NY can implement. 

What Can We Do?
  • Join an ICE Watch group and learn to use the SALUTE reporting tool to craft a text to share ICE on the street actions with the ICE Hotline: (229) 304-8720
  • Follow @nycicewwatch on instagram and share SALUTE messages with them too.

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

JHISN Newsletter 07/25/2026

Posted on July 25, 2026 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

We often struggle to decide what stories to write for the newsletter: how to choose from the cascade of immigration news; what will promote solidarity without softening the brutal reality of what is happening in the US. For this newsletter, it was easy to decide that we had to report on a recent violent ICE arrest here in Jackson Heights. And then focus on the ugly consequences for New York’s health care system because of the cancellation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians.  

For a deeper and wider dive into news about, for, and by immigrants, please keep the NYC-based online news outlet Documented on your ‘must read’ list. They do an extraordinary job keeping us informed and promoting an immigrant-centered and social justice lens.

Finally, to supplement our story about Haitians losing TPS status, see this report on how one senior living center in California is already being affected by the forced exodus of Haitian health care workers.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. ICE unleashed in Jackson Heights
  2. Threats to Haitians and the NY health care system

 

1. How ICE Is Coming To Our Streets—Again.  

“We are horrified by federal immigration enforcement operations that deliberately infringe upon First Amendment rights to assemble and dissent. The use of intimidation, surveillance, and deadly force against lawful protestors is not public safety—it is repression.” —Statement from the League of Women Voters on Federal Immigration Enforcement and the Erosion of Constitutional Rights, January 2026

Five blocks away from the Jackson Heights Shopping Center on 31st Avenue, a woman walked. Protected from the rain by an umbrella. She noticed two ICE agents grabbing the arms of a man on the street about 20 feet in front of her. She crossed the road to avoid walking directly past them. The agents had tactical vests with POLICE ICE patches velcroed on the front and back. They carried holstered guns. Handcuffs dangled from their belts. One was illegally masked with a neck gaiter covering his mouth and secured over his ears by his own black baseball cap: its brim was angled low, allowing only the strip of his face with his eyes to be seen. The other agent was unmasked. The man was not struggling. The masked agent forcefully grabbed the man’s wrists; the man’s body twisted in reaction, and he struggled to maintain balance. There was no threat in his struggle. The agents’ lives were not in peril. Yet the unmasked agent chose to raise his left arm nonchalantly, without any urgency or need to defend himself, and aimed a taser inches from the man’s chest: violating recommended considerations for taser deployment by law enforcement. His verbal direction while pointing the taser was minimal and vague: “Cut the shit.” The two agents walked the man to a Black Hyundai Palisade SUV, LZW 7506. Nothing more is seen of them. This was July 9th in Jackson Heights.

Using the SALUTE reporting method, this 90-second encounter would be reported as:

S: 2
A: Arrested a man
L: 81st Street and 31st Avenue
U: ICE
T: 5:14 pm
E: Tan ICE vests, masked, taser

The only reason we even have this information is because a Rapid Response (RR) group member was walking the streets, paying attention to and legally documenting the actions of ICE agents. After the man was taken away, an RR team located a family connection for the man. Because of that volunteer work, the family would now know what happened to him. (The same RR team is currently searching to locate a family contact for someone else recently taken from 108th Street at 45th Avenue.) Since the federal government is not informing people when they move ICE detainees, how else would this information be discovered? 

The critical work for any RR action is to establish communication with the person being targeted. Let them know you’re there to help them, ask them for a phone number of a family member or contact that you can call to tell what has happened to them, or any information to help know more about them. The faster an ID can be made, the faster legal support can be gathered. 

The June 2026 budget reconciliation bill that ended the US government shutdown and funded Homeland Security for three more years “did not include basic guardrails like required oversight for detention, transparency measures requiring ICE to provide basic detention data to the public, and some basic civil rights protections in immigration enforcement.” It also gave $350 million for ICE to carry out enforcement actions in cities or states DHS decides are “non-cooperating” with Trump’s mass deportation agenda. It allows people to be taken by ICE if they were arrested for minor offenses, and ICE can also take someone if they were ever charged with the federal offense of unauthorized entry, even if charges were later dropped.

When Markwayne Mullin replaced Kristy Noem as DHS secretary, he said his key goal was to not be the lead story every single day. Yet, his team continues to murder people publicly and blame the victims with impunity. Mullin’s public response when asked how his agents would be held accountable was to say DHS will “turn up the heat on the streets”. The FBI has recently announced it will no longer take the lead on “assault on a federal officer” cases involving ICE and other Department of Homeland Security agents. Instead, Homeland Security Investigations will be responsible. Since the start of the second Trump presidency, no officers have been charged in any of the 9 killings by agents, and the federal government has suggested state prosecutors don’t have jurisdiction to investigate federal officers.

In summary: we can expect more on-the-street ICE activities and will see no change in tactics regarding overtly harsh enforcement techniques of non-criminal immigrants. We can anticipate more murders of anyone in proximity to ICE activities, and no independent agency will hold accountable the agents who kill. We will continue to see an increase in protesters being charged falsely with the once-obscure 18 U.S.C. 111 statute, which makes it a federal crime to assault or forcibly impede a government officer. We therefore need more people mobilized in Rapid Response groups to stand up for the disappeared as well as for our constitutional rights.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Participate in neighborhood walks for a Rapid Response group in these key areas:
    • 1-2 block radius of any 7 train stop in the area (Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona)
    • Most of Corona south of Northern Blvd. to just south of Corona Ave.
    • All along 111th, 108th streets
    • 1-2 block radius of the Ideal Supermarket by Corona Ave at 102nd street
    • Along 45th Ave., the LIRR underpass
    • Eastern side of Jackson Heights closer to Corona 
    • North of Northern Blvd. along 31st/32nd Aves.
    • Staging sites: FMCP parking lots, QCM parking lots, parking lots along Northern Blvd./Queens Blvd. 
  • Do what you can to help the Legal Defense Fund achieve their “6 Steps to End ICE and Other Federal Law Enforcement Abuses in Our Streets” 
  • Support efforts to enforce gambling laws against prediction markets which profit from their speculations on ICE arrests.

2. Loss of TPS for Haitians Endangers New York’s Healthcare System

“During COVID, we knew we were exposed. We knew we could be the next one, but guess what? We showed up every day. Some of us lived in the hospital for months. And this is how we are being repaid.” —Dr. Marie Paul, founder of Haitian Nurses Network

In November 2025, then Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem declared that Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for Haitians would end on February 3, 2026, but on February 2, a US District Court for the District of Columbia put a stay on that decision. On June 25, the Supreme Court removed the stay, permitting the administration to remove TPS for Haitians and Syrians. The decision put 350,000 Haitians and 6,100 Syrians in danger of deportation. The decision disregarded the continuing chaos in Haiti. It also invites turbulence in New York State’s health care system where thousands of Haitians currently work. 

The court decision was not effective immediately. A 32-day delay is required before actions can take place, so on July 10, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the current work permit expiration date for Haitians with TPS is July 24, 2026. The state has about 56,000 Haitian residents; the city has around 5,400. The most obvious consequences of the court’s decision are the total disruption of Haitian families’ lives and well-being as well as their inability to send money to relatives in their country of origin. Another serious consequence is economic damage. Nationwide, Haitian TPS holders contribute $5.9 billion to the US economy, including $1.1 billion to New York state and $281 million in federal, state and local taxes.

Additionally, the health care industry will be severely disrupted. Thousands of Haitians provide essential care as nurses and nursing assistants across New York’s hospitals, as home health aides to the elderly, and as caregivers in long-term care facilities. All their patients and clients will be severely affected if Haitians are unable to continue working.

According to an amicus brief filed in April by Letitia James and 18 other state attorneys general, there are tens of thousands of Haitian TPS holders nationwide who work in critical services including health care. The American Immigration Council states that 112,000 Haitians work nationwide in health care, including 58,000 home health aides.

The policy group FWD.us estimates there are 25,000 Haitian TPS holders working in New York state, including 5,000 caregivers and 2,000 nursing assistants who, along with other workers, contribute $141 million annually in state and local taxes.

It is well-known that there is a nursing shortage in New York City, and the loss of these TPS holders will only increase the problem.

“Even with the current numbers that they have, including TPS workers, there is still a nursing shortage. Removing even a small percentage of these people will further impact our ability to provide quality care. There is no replacement pipeline. That’s why I’m losing sleep. My concern is, what happens to patients?” —Dr. Cherlie Magny-Normilus, a family nurse practitioner and assistant professor of nursing at New York University

There are efforts in Congress to alter these consequences. In April, the House passed a bill with bipartisan support to extend TPS protection for Haitians for three years. After the Supreme Court ruling, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed presented Senate bill S.4814 to extend TPS for Haitians, and on July 6 Representative Mike Lawler (NY-17), a strong advocate for Haitians in his district, urged the Senate to take up the bill.

In the meantime, some families threatened with deportation may stop going to work, avoid school or public spaces, or withdraw from daily life because of ICE fears. For TPS holders, the main option now is to check for any other form of immigration relief and to start concrete planning in case TPS ends.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

 

JHISN Newsletter 06/27/2026

Posted on June 27, 2026 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends, 

When good immigration news is hard to find, we look harder. The notorious Alligator Alcatraz detention camp in Florida is fully shut down as of this week, less than a year after it opened with sadistic fanfare from Trump’s minions. We hope, with many of you, that the expansion of Mayor Mamdani’s political power with this week’s primary victories will strengthen a pro-immigrant, anti-authoritarian agenda. And a Trump lawsuit targeting four NJ cities for allegedly “unconstitutional” sanctuary policies was just tossed out by a federal judge.

But the bad news is really terrible. Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling that allows the federal government to continue stripping Temporary Protective Status (TPS) from hundreds of thousands of US residents is a nightmare. Most immediately, 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians are now facing the reality of losing their TPS legal status by July 1—a loss that will affect everyone who is their neighbor, co-worker, healthcare patient, or friend.   

Our newsletter covers some of the mixed good/ bad immigration news out of this year’s NYS legislative session, which ended in early June. We then update you on the ongoing legal campaigns—and harassment—of two high-profile international students from Columbia University targeted for deportation.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. NY State Legislature gestures toward immigrant protections
  2. Deportation threats to Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil

1. Latest NY State Legislation Falls Short On Immigrant Protection

On May 21, NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie noted that the 2026-27 state fiscal budget includes legislative provisions, signed by the governor, that protect our neighbors throughout New York from aggressive federal immigration enforcement. He suggested that local governments will be prohibited from collaborating with federal immigration enforcement officers and private detention facilities. He highlighted provisions that “will protect children in their schools and establish sensitive locations within our communities.” The official press release received endorsements from various elected officials, including Queens Assembly Member Catalina Cruz.

The perspective of immigrant justice supporters of the New York For All Act—proposed legislation which was never brought to a vote in the state legislature—was markedly different. The multi-organization coalition advocating for New York For All said, “The lack of political courage and moral leadership in Albany – and the failure to take a bold stand in the face of rising xenophobia – means that New York’s immigrant communities will continue to live with the threat that any encounter with government agencies can result in separation from their families.” 

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) outlined some of the Enacted Budget’s key elements, explaining which protections were included or fell short:

  • State and local employees may not gather information about immigration status, and cannot share personal data of NY residents with ICE…but the police are excluded from this restriction.
  • “Sensitive locations,” including hospitals, churches, and private homes, can deny entry to ICE agents. 
  • The right to free public education for children, regardless of the family’s immigration status, was established.
  • State and local agencies may not rent space to ICE for immigration detention nor financially support immigration detention facilities.
  • New Yorkers can sue local, state, and federal officials in state court when their constitutional rights are violated using the newly established Office of Immigrant Trust.

Republicans claim that these new protections mean that “New York is now a sanctuary state on steroids.” But there are, in fact, at least three significant elements missing from the new budget that progressive forces had fought for. First, although the formal 287(g) agreements that allow local governments to work with ICE (previously signed by twelve New York law enforcement agencies) were banned in New York, informal collusion between local police and immigration enforcement was not prohibited—that was called for in the New York For All Act. Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, noted, “The legislative package falls short of offering comprehensive protections by continuing to permit informal law enforcement collusion with ICE and Border Patrol.”

Second, state-funded counsel for immigrants facing deportation, part of the Access to Representation and the BUILD Act, was not included in the budget package. Although some money was secured for immigrant legal services, it was less than half of the $175 million called for by immigrant advocates.

Finally, the new measures banning face coverings for state, local, and federal officers in New York still allow for “tactical equipment” that covers faces.  Even with this legal loophole permitting ICE to deploy with tactical face masks, the federal government initiated a lawsuit against New York four days before the face mask ban was scheduled to go into effect. The Department of Justice has also initiated legal action against New Jersey, California, and Virginia, which sought similar mask restrictions. 

The New York Bar has explained why many of the items demanded and signed into law do not violate federal laws about police power and preemption. None of those explanations will stop the threats from Homeland Security to conduct an ICE surge in NYC. Passing the entire New York For All Act would help strengthen legal action against the overreach and violations of basic rights by ICE and border patrol federal agents.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Deportation Threat Ongoing for Palestinian Student-Activists at Columbia University

 “[T]he administration is abusing immigration law to silence me for speaking the truth about Palestinian suffering and genocide. When a government weaponizes immigration to punish speech, millions of immigrants and citizens feel that blow.” —Mohsen Mahdawi (June 10, 2026)

In Spring of 2025, Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil, both Columbia University students, became two of the most prominent faces of international student-activists targeted for their Palestine solidarity work. The newly-installed Trump regime quickly weaponized immigration law and accusations of antisemitism to incarcerate both young men in its broader campaign to silence and punish university-based mobilizations against the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Both men are Palestinian. Khalil was born in a refugee camp in Syria; Mahdawi in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Khalil is a graduate of Columbia’s prestigious School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA); Mahdawi is currently enrolled in the MA program at SIPA. Both are green card holders and legal US residents. Both were accused of nothing beyond the “memos” from Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating that their presence in the country might undermine US foreign policy goals. Both were eventually released from detention after public outcry and legal challenges. 

And … both are still threatened with deportation through legal proceedings pursued by the federal government, even as their names have faded from most headlines.

Their ongoing legal battles differ. An immigration judge in February 2026 ruled that the deportation case against Mohsen Mahdawi be dismissed. Trump’s DOJ fired that immigration judge (unlike other judges, immigration judges serve at the will of the federal government) and appealed the decision. The US Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled that the deportation case could go forward, and Mohsen’s case went to a second immigration judge who this month issued an order of removal that would send Mohsen to Jordan. Nevertheless Mohsen remains in the US while his legal team challenges the deportation order in the First Circuit Court on constitutional grounds. Mohsen declared:

“… I’m going to cut to the core of this issue, which is an issue that is related to the First Amendment. Do I have, as a green card holder, as a lawful permanent resident for 12 years, never committed a crime — do I have the rights that actually the citizenship questionnaire that I get tested on states that I do … do I have the right to free speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression?” —on Democracy Now! (June 12, 2026)                                                              

Mahmoud Khalil’s case is on a different track, though he also is protected for now from a deportation removal order that has been set in motion. His legal team made a second appeal in May 2026 to the US Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to dismiss the deportation case against him, after new revelations of government misconduct. The Trump regime is accused of “secretly engineering” the outcome of his case. The allegations of misconduct are corroborated by statements from former immigration judges, former BIA workers, and accumulating evidence that top government officials pressured judges to “decide” cases with predetermined outcomes in spotlight cases like Khalil’s, and to expedite deportation orders. One legal decision against Khalil was handed down by the BIA in a mysteriously speedy nine days. 

Meanwhile, a legal challenge in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals was decided in late May against Khalil, and a new challenge was immediately filed by his team in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which also separately requested a Supreme Court review of the Third Circuit decision. “We hope the Supreme Court will recognize how dangerous the Third Circuit’s decision was, not just for Mahmoud but for other non-citizens the administration has its vengeful sights upon,” said Baher Azmy, legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Regardless of the outcome of their cases, Mohsen and Mahmoud remain targets of merciless legal harassment through a federal government campaign to deport them—and to silence, repress, and frighten others who would speak out.  

Columbia University has to date made no public statements in support of Mohsen, a current student, or Mahmoud, a recent graduate. The University has been operating since July 2025 under an unprecedented “settlement”’ with the Trump regime, in which the University paid the government $221 million, and agreed to a set of institutional changes demanded by the federal government. One of those demands was that the University start asking all international applicants “questions designed to elicit their reasons for wishing to study in the United States.” Or, in the words of Marco Rubio, “we are not going to be importing activists into the United States.” 

WHAT CAN WE DO? 
  • Join the weekly vigil every Monday at 12pm near Columbia’s campus to protest DHS and ICE targeting of students, organized by CUIMC Stands Up.

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

JHISN Newsletter 05/24/2026

Posted on May 24, 2026 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

Like the volatile Spring weather, the battle for NYC immigrants’ future runs hot and cold. We were glad last Monday when a federal judge ruled that ICE arrests at Manhattan immigration courts must be significantly curtailed. But that feeling of relief was soon tempered by learning that ICE detained a man at immigration court the very next day—and by awareness that ICE might respond to the ruling by increasing its presence on our streets. 

Today’s newsletter begins on a positive note by describing how NICE (New Immigrant Community Empowerment) has expanded its programs and physical presence in the neighborhood. Our second article dives into the little-known story of Omni Airlines, a billionaire-funded company noted for its particularly cruel ICE deportations. We share a revealing map that quickly shows the story of ICE activity in Corona, and conclude with information about an upcoming volunteer event—one where we hope you will join us.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Going “beyond one-time assistance” for immigrants at NICE
  2. The airline you’ve never heard of that transports ICE deportees
  3. Mapping ICE activity in NYC

1. NICE: “From Surviving to Thriving”

Migration and displacement are overwhelming experiences. Community members must navigate complex U.S. systems—healthcare, employment, housing, and financial services—that are often unfamiliar and difficult to access. —NICE Fact Sheet

Since 1999, New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) has been a crucial first point of contact in our neighborhood for thousands of recent Spanish-speaking immigrants seeking access to social services, legal advice, community, and basic survival assistance. NICE has long been known for its support for day laborers, its OSHA and ESL classes, and for political action in support of immigrant rights.

In recent years, NICE has expanded both its role and its facilities. Their current strategy gives priority to “holistic, culturally competent support that goes beyond one-time assistance.” A key feature of this strategy is the Pre-Apprenticeship Program for Life and Work (Pre-APLW). This apprenticeship program offers English-language, legal, and job-related training. But it also helps immigrants build other practical skills useful in navigating life in the US, including:

  • accessing health and mental health services
  • learning more about transportation systems
  • strengthening financial literacy
  • dealing with New York’s rental and real estate markets

Pre-APLW is organized around intensive workshops. These typically include 25 to 30 participants, who devote 30 to 40 hours a week for four weeks. NICE has contacts and partnerships with potential employers, allowing Pre-APLW Apprentices to obtain hands-on experience and job opportunities. Like all NICE programs, Pre-APLW aims to promote social and political leadership and build community among immigrants.

NICE has recently acquired and renovated additional spaces around Roosevelt and 72nd Street, becoming a small campus. This includes a community center, event and meeting areas, classrooms, and offices. The organization hopes to keep expanding to further meet the needs of their members and all recent immigrants. 

Funding for NICE’s work comes from a combination of government grants, philanthropic or corporate donors, and private contributions. Volunteers are encouraged to assist at the organization’s community events, such as their winter toy giveaway and their Thanksgiving distribution. NICE is currently campaigning to build community support by sponsoring runners in this year’s New York Marathon.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Omni: ICE’s “Special” Airline

“To leave human beings warehoused on a tarmac for hours reveals a system that does not see them as people. This is not simply a logistical error; it is a feature of ICE’s inhumane mission.”—Jo Jordon of No ICE NH

Michael Dorrell, an immigrant from Australia, made billions as a financial investor in logistics companies like the Air Transport Services Group, ATSG, which owns Omni Airlines, a passenger airline that, through the broker Classic Air Charter, contracts with ICE to provide airline deportations. Omni is reportedly the sole provider of “special high-risk charter” (SHRC) deportation flights. Since other airlines refuse to provide that service, Omni charges ICE twice the standard rate for similar flight services, over $33,000 per hour. Comparing the ICE deportation machine to Amazon for people is more than a metaphor: between 2016 and 2024, Amazon acquired over 13 million shares in ATSG, and ATSG expanded the number of cargo planes leased to Amazon in an operating agreement that is good to 2029.

The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition demanded, in 2022, that Omni suspend cooperation with ICE due to the many human rights violations created by their deportation work. Omni did not stop. In fact, that year, the US government gave Omni $67 million in COVID bailout funds and awarded them a $78 million contract. The airline’s treatment of immigrants actually got worse: flights have become longer and crueler. In 2024, Omni had just six trips that took more than 24 hours to complete, using multi-destination hops. By the end of 2025, 31 flights took between 24 and 50 hours—some have taken 70 to 80 hours. Deportees are held in shackles for the entire duration–an ICE requirement–and deportees have sometimes gone 10 hours without food or water. 

ICE talked publicly last year about possibly purchasing its own fleet, but for now, it works with between 8 and 14 aircraft from about 10 contractors to oversee about 15,000 deportations every month. To reach Trump’s goal of 1 million annual deportations would require 83,300 removals every month, which would require more than 50 planes.

Thomas Cartwright offers a stark contrast with Dorrell.  He is a retired financial investor who, when working with Witness at the Border in 2019, learned about the dehumanizing deportation flights leaving small border airports. He used his skills to track deportation planes using flight-tracking apps. It was his work that revealed the details about the notorious CECOT flights last year. He trained others in his process and has transferred the bulk of the work to Human Rights First, which now publishes monthly reports. April’s report holds 32 pages of revealing details, including:

  • The number of flights for both internal transfers and removals.
  • The use of coast guard flights in the deportation machine.
  • The number of planes provided by each airline carrier.
  • The path of a 51-hour flight carrying deportees to 6 countries.
  • How many times each airport is used: Alexandria, in Louisiana, had the most usage at 2,439 flights.

The contrast of the work these two people have done reveals the difference in mindset between a person who is seeking to make money regardless of how people’s lives are horrifically impacted, and a person who is looking to help his community do well by other people instead of blaming and abusing them.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

3. Locally Mapping ICE 

There are data analysts, such as Danielle Harlow, who examine ICE records nationally to produce public data visualizations showing deportation flights and the locations from which people were taken.  NYC activists are also gathering data to tell the stories of local people kidnapped by ICE enforcers. Corona-based Queens Neighborhoods United (QNU) has been tracking neighborhood ICE raids and verifying the locations where they have kidnapped people. 

 

NYC Icebreaker has been tracking ICE actions throughout the city: their work has revealed that raids are most likely to take place between 7-8 am and 3-5 pm. Monday seems to be the most popular day of the week for ICE to stage their raids in Corona, Tuesday in Bushwick, and Thursday in Sunset Park.

Maps like these are helpful, but incomplete. At last weekend’s anti-casino town hall meeting, it was noted that hundreds of people per month are taken from NYC streets to endure the excruciating flights and inhumane detention centers. Neither maps nor figures can show the full extent or cruelty of the process. 

Like so much immigrant justice work, tracking and mapping ICE is the work of small, local, volunteer-led groups who need support from neighbors and progressive journalists to continue raising awareness and speaking out against the injustices of the deportation machinery.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Join JHISN, Brave of Us, and others at the Community Volunteer Morning organized by Documented, the multilingual, immigrant-driven news outlet we have covered in this newsletter (and often use as a source):

    “Saturday, June 6, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM: Distribute newspapers and guides to community spaces (houses of worship, small businesses, community centers, and busy public areas). Engage with residents about their information needs and build community in real time, together— and over food and drink.” INFORMATION AND RSVP

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

 

JHISN Newsletter 04/25/2026

Posted on April 25, 2026 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

Remain vigilant? Breathe a temporary sigh of relief? The mass targeting of immigrants for deportation in central Queens has not yet materialized. We share recent wisdom from Queens Neighborhoods United: “[W]e can’t always live in fear that ICE is around, and we can’t pretend that ICE is never around. Finding a balance and arming ourselves with information to inform our day-to-day lives is important.” Find a balance; stay informed; build and hold our collective strength.

Yet, every day, police violence against immigrants continues, and our first article highlights the pursuit of justice for two Queens families shattered by NYPD shootings in their homes.

Our second article dives into the mess of government propaganda, misinformation, missing data, and realistic “best estimates” of the number of immigrants in the US who have been recently detained and/or deported. Who really counts in US society? All those whose lives have been upended by a revved-up mass detention and deportation machine deserve to be counted.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Where is justice for two Queens families shattered by NYPD violence?
  2. Checking the numbers on US detentions and deportations

1. Justice for Win Rozario and Jabez Chakraborty!

On March 27, 2024, struggling with a mental health crisis in his Ozone Park home, 19-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant Win Rozario called 911 for help. What showed up was two aggressive cops, who provoked, tased, and gunned him down without mercy in front of his family.

“After shooting Win, the NYPD forced Win’s mom and brother to go to the precinct immediately, refusing to let them accompany Win to the hospital. Win’s mother and brother were separated and interrogated without lawyers and before being notified that Win had died. The NYPD then refused to let the Rozario family back into their apartment for over 48 hours, refusing to let them retrieve critical medications or even feed their cat. It took the advocacy of the Public Advocate to get the Rozario family back into their home – which the police had neglected to clean up after murdering Win.” —The Justice Committee

In September 2025, NYC’s Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) found that Officers Matthew Cianfrocco and Salvatore Alongi used excessive force and abused their authority. But so far, they have not faced any consequences. State Attorney General Letitia James refused to prosecute the cops, a decision the family called “cowardly.” Potential disciplinary action is now at the discretion of New York Police Commissioner Tisch, who is considered likely to order the loss of some vacation days—or no punishment at all. Only Mayor Mamdani can overrule whatever she decides.

This April 1, the Rozario family and local immigrant justice group Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) led a demonstration at Diversity Plaza, solemnly marking the second anniversary of Win’s murder and calling on the city to fire Cianfrocco and Alongi:

“Win’s mother shared her experiences and demands: ‘I can’t believe two years have passed and still the police have not been punished… I want to say that police should not be sent to respond to situations involving illness or mental health crises. Otherwise, more families like mine will be forced to live with this emptiness and grief.’” —@DRUMNYC

The Diversity Plaza protest also mobilized support for another Queens immigrant family brutalized in a similar way by the NYPD. Jabez Chakraborty, 22, who lives with schizophrenia, was shot by cops in a January 2026 confrontation that his family insists was completely unnecessary.

“We are shocked and outraged by the NYPD’s treatment of our son and brother, Jabez Chakraborty, and our family. We called for help. We called 911 for an ambulance to provide medical attention for our son, who was in emotional distress. We did not call the police. Instead of medical responders, the NYPD arrived and shot our son multiple times right in front of us.” —Chakraborty family, 1/30/26

Although he was severely wounded, Jabez Chakraborty survived. But District Attorney Melinda Katz rushed to arraign him on assault and weapons charges as he lay chained to his hospital bed—ignoring objections from Mayor Mamdani.

“What purpose does it serve to punish someone who needed medical and mental health care, and got bullets instead? This shooting was not an isolated incident: it’s a devastating example of how our systems repeatedly fail the most vulnerable New Yorkers.” —Fahd Ahmed, Executive Director of DRUM

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. The Reality Behind Detention & Deportation Propaganda Numbers

“We know of no reliable count of the total number of deportations during the first year of the Trump administration.” — Deportation Data Project (January 2026)

Those managing the anti-immigrant agenda of Trump and his hatemongering Homeland Security advisor, Stephen Miller, regularly obfuscate their arrest, detention, or deportation numbers. Such transparency problems are not new. Before Trump took office in 2024, the American Immigration Council (AIC) published Transparency Recommendations identifying numerous legally mandated reporting requirements that ICE failed to fulfill. The AIC reported that ICE, under Biden, was “severely undercounting the number of people it has in immigration detention.” In July of last year, Robert Garcia, a representative on the House Committee on Homeland Security, stated, “I actually just don’t trust numbers the administration is putting out, and I don’t think the American public should.” Thankfully, the diligent work of non-profits and university researchers does serve as a lighthouse in the fog.   

The number of people processed through the deportation machine is obscured by the administration’s hyperbolic statements. Only through the independent work of organizations, reporters, and pro bono lawyers, who process Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to delve into Homeland Security data, can we get a sense of how many people are actually being processed through the deportation machine.

In March of last year, TRAC Reports won a major FOIA case against ICE and CPB when a court rejected all the government’s arguments for withholding records. In November 2025, TRAC released a report about detention and removals after the massive deployments of military and civil immigration enforcers: “The data show surprisingly little has been accomplished given the huge expenditure of resources devoted to this effort.” The increase in ICE removals under Trump in 2025 was reportedly only 7% higher than the 2024-25 numbers under Biden.

Before Trump’s second inauguration, data on border arrests, deportations, and other immigration metrics were published twice a month (as mandated by the DHS funding bill). An April 2026 visit to the DHS website finds that the immigration websites have not been updated since 2024. ICE Detention and Repatriation data has also not been updated since 2024. The 2025 numbers reported by Homeland Security on its detention management site are severely limited. Even a high school student’s online ICE Tracker project is making a better attempt than Homeland Security to share this data publicly.

While TRAC Reports highlighted the many data errors in ICE data releases, the Vera Institute of Justice reported that the “failure [of ICE] to regularly release accurate, complete, and accessible data is part of what enables it to operate this multi-billion-dollar network with little oversight or accountability.” With the support of the Deportation Data Project, the Vera Institute published its December 2025 report on ICE Detention Trends in 1,464 facilities. If the ICE reports from August of last year are accurate, then the 61,226 people detained by ICE is the highest ever level of detention. 

“First, ICE arrests quadrupled, including both street arrests and transfers from criminal custody to ICE immigration custody. ICE street arrests (i.e. arrests not at jails) went up by over a factor of eleven. Street arrests at this order of magnitude are a new phenomenon. For both types of arrests, ICE was much less likely to target people with criminal convictions. These changes led to over a sevenfold increase in arrests of people without criminal convictions.”—Deportation Data Project


Transfers from Jails and Prisons Doubled and Street Arrests Increased by 11x—Deportation Data Project

The self-deportation component of the Miller-Trump strategy, despite a significant increase in numbers, failed spectacularly to deliver its promise as a cost-effective way to remove immigrants rapidly. Last September, DHS posted self-aggrandizing statements, and Kristi Noem talked about self-deportation numbers, which came from an estimate by the anti-immigrant think tank CIS that did not even use DHS data. 

Homeland Security spent $200M on ads (created by agencies with direct ties to DHS staff) to urge self-deportation through the incongruously named Project Homecoming. The “voluntary” project claims to offer applicants a free plane ticket and a stipend of $1,000, recently increased to $2,600. Data review confirmed around 25,000 people registered for self-deportation on the CBP mobile app. Only half of those actually returned home with DHS support. The others face delays in paperwork processing, have not received payments, and still await their flights home. Immigration attorneys indicate their lack of trust in the program. In reality, only a minority of immigrants are eligible for those incentives to leave: those who do not meet the requirements are simply handing over their information and risking detention. 


Voluntary Departures Increased by 28x—Deportation Data Project

Although the government’s Project Homecoming data is questionable, reliable data shows that the number of court cases ending in “voluntary departure” increased to 35,000—over three times those during the previous year. Looking at New York specifically, under Biden, less than 1% of people arrested by ICE opted for voluntary departure—today it is 22%. People are also deciding to self-deport without government intervention—but even at the point where they are boarding flights to return home, they are still being detained and handed over to ICE agents.

The end goal of this administration is really not just about deportation. It is about enabling white nationalism and authoritarianism through racial profiling, eroding constitutional rights, scapegoating and subjugating immigrants, and weaponizing a massive private, for-profit prison system. 

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

 

JHISN Newsletter 03/21/2026

Posted on March 21, 2026 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

There is some important good news this week amidst the cascade of bad news, national and global—including the grim assessment that the US is no longer a functioning democracy, according to the world’s leading democracy watchdog. Sweden’s prestigious Variety of Democracies (V-Dem) Institute writes in their newly-released report, “The scale and speed of autocratization under the Trump administration are unprecedented in modern times.”

But the autocrat’s project also has cracks, and good news includes the release from detention this week of Dylan Contreras, the Bronx high school student arrested by ICE in May 2025. And our second newsletter article reports the end of Leqaa Kordia’s incarceration by ICE, when she finally walked free on March 16.

Our first article investigates the very bad news of the Trump regime’s surge toward holding immigrant detainees in commercial warehouse spaces turned ‘mega detention’ centers across the US.  

Newsletter highlights:
  1. New architecture of deportation: ICE warehouses
  2. Leqaa Kordia freed after one year

 

Warehouse, Social Circle, Georgia

1. Amazon Prime, But With Human Beings: Warehousing Immigrants

In the run-up to the midterm elections, the Trump regime is signaling a tactical retreat from its increasingly unpopular policy of mass deportation. This change in public posture is reflected in the president’s firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and his call for a “softer touch” on immigration enforcement. The White House has even quietly urged House Republicans to stop talking about mass deportation altogether. After meeting with Trump’s border “czar” Tom Homan in Albany on March 6, Governor Kathy Hochul sounded convinced that ICE won’t escalate enforcement in New York any time soon. 

Still, the machinery of mass deportation grinds on. Nationally, ICE arrests were down about 11% from January to February, but still four times higher than they were before Trump took office. More than 70,000 people are in immigration detention. In NYC, courthouse arrests continue. Rapid response teams in our neighborhood report continued ICE kidnappings, especially off the streets of Corona.

Perhaps the most damning evidence that mass deportation is still on the agenda—and might ramp up after the elections—is the regime’s rush to build out massive infrastructure for new immigrant detention centers. Flush with $45 billion appropriated for this purpose by Congress, ICE is buying a network of commercial warehouses that it plans to retrofit into immigration prisons. The goal, says ICE Director Todd Lyons, is to be “[Amazon] Prime, but with human beings.”

The plan includes 16 new “processing centers” and 8 large detention centers to hold 7-10,000 people each. Reportedly, 9 of the projected 24 warehouses have already been purchased. One of the planned detention centers, in South Circle, Georgia, is expected to confine more people than any prison in the US.

To speed things up, the regime is using the US Navy’s procurement system, which allows them to bypass federal contracting requirements. By purchasing and subcontracting out the renovation of its own detention facilities, ICE also evades many state and local sanctuary restrictions. GEO Group, CoreCivic, and other profiteering private prison contractors are being tapped to run the facilities.

Conditions at privately-run immigration lockups are particularly grim. Systematic abuse serves to pressure refugees, asylum seekers and others with provisional status to abandon their legal claims and agree to “voluntarily” self-deport.

GEO Group, the country’s largest private prison operator, has been “churning out deportations almost at the rate of approximately 100% of [the company’s detention facilities’] capacity per month,” executive chairman George Zoley said in an earnings call in November. “We’ve never seen anything like this before,” Zoley said on the call. “Our existing facilities are full throttle.”  —Huffpost (March 7, 2026)

This is a specific form of mass deportation that the Trump regime is committed to expanding at breakneck speed.

Local opposition to the new warehouses has been fierce in many places and has successfully prevented ICE from finalizing some pending purchases. For instance, after ICE announced it acquired a former Pep Boys warehouse in Chester, NY, local politicians, community activists, and national Democratic leaders reacted with outrage. A petition denouncing ICE’s plan quickly gathered tens of thousands of signatures. On February 17, ICE released a statement denying that it had bought the building, saying its previous claim was “a mistake.”

A major battle is currently taking place over the future of a giant warehouse in Roxbury, New Jersey, which ICE purchased from Goldman Sachs for $129.3 million—more than double its official taxable value. Several hundred local residents and activists attended a protest outside the site on February 28. Opposition is bipartisan, based on anti-ICE sentiment as well as the practical impact on local services and utilities. Gothamist reports that ”Many local Republicans also oppose the Trump administration’s plans for the ICE detention facility in Roxbury Township, despite saying they broadly support detention centers as a means of immigration enforcement, just not in their backyard.”

On March 11, a federal judge temporarily halted renovation work on an ICE warehouse in Williamsport, Maryland, ruling that the administration had illegally bypassed a required environmental review. It remains to be seen if this ruling will hold up on appeal, and what implications it may have for other facilities.

ICE’s plan–already underway–for a sprawling network of detention warehouses cuts against the narrative that the Trump regime is “softening” immigration enforcement. In fact, they are literally laying the groundwork for a new, intensified stage of mass deportation.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Palestinian detainee and solidarity activist Leqaa Kordia walks free

“DHS insists they are targeting criminals. But all I see here [at Prairieland Detention Facility] are mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers. Some have active green cards. Nevertheless, they are transferred from detention center to detention center. It is human trafficking, by another name.” –Leqaa Kordia, Zeteo (March 9, 2026)

She is the name many of us could not remember. She was never a Columbia student but was regularly referred to as one. She was held by ICE for 12 months and 3 days inside a women’s detention center in Texas, 1,500 miles from her home and community in New Jersey, and largely out of the media spotlight. In February, Leqaa Kordia fainted, had a seizure, and was hospitalized, in shackles. Her story started to receive national attention.

On International Women’s Day this month, Kordia, still imprisoned, published an essay that shared the stories of the women she lived with inside Prairieland: “We laugh together. We cry together. When somebody is crying, everybody is crying. When somebody is laughing, everybody is laughing. We try to do anything to make anybody happy …. We have each other. We only have each other.” In Kordia’s first public speech after her release on March 16, she spoke of her sadness at leaving behind the beautiful, courageous women and men still living in “ICE dungeons.”

In April 2024, Kordia was arrested by NYPD alongside more than 100 protesters outside Columbia University’s locked gates. The group was supporting students inside who had launched the historic Gaza solidarity encampment, demanding a ceasefire and university divestment from the Israeli war-machine. Nearly 200 members of Kordia’s extended family in Gaza have been killed. Although charges were dropped against Kordia and the other protesters in 2024, ICE obtained Kordia’s sealed arrest record from NYPD. Federal prosecutors then tried to build trumped-up “money laundering” charges based on a $1000 check that she sent to support relatives under siege in Gaza. 

One year after participating in the protest, Kordia was ambushed by ICE during what she thought was a routine check-in in Newark, NJ, in March 2025. The Trump regime had just started its campaign of politically targeting noncitizen students and protesters who called for an end to the genocide. Many of those targeted, like Leqaa, are Palestinian.

The Trump regime’s rounding up of international students and faculty who stood in solidarity with Palestine was found to be unlawful in September 2025. Yet Kordia—not a student but a waitress in Paterson, NJ—still languished in detention long after more well-known detainees like Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil were released. Khalil published a moving public letter to Kordia during Ramadan this month while she was still incarcerated: 

“I keep replaying what it felt like to walk into those detention centers. How impossible it is to describe to anyone who hasn’t lived it …. Leqaa, I want so badly to tell you that the world has stood by you. But I refuse to lie to you. The truth is that the world has failed you, and so have we. I cannot grasp that you remain, a full year later, thousands of miles away from your home, from your family, from the life you were building. And for what? For the crime that has followed our people across continents and generations: being Palestinian and daring to speak our truth.”

On Monday, March 16, the world stopped failing Leqaa Kordia. Mayor Mamdani had reportedly asked for her release; Columbia-Barnard faculty had organized a week-long relay hunger strike in solidarity with Leqaa; and her legal team and community in Paterson had never given up their efforts to bring her home. Leqaa finally walked out of Prairieland Detention Facility in Texas after 368 days. She still faces ongoing deportation proceedings.

Tens of thousands of detainees remain in cages. Kordia’s challenge to us is to remember their dignity and reinvent what solidarity can mean in this era of ‘mass deportation’ and massive social suffering in immigrant communities.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

  • If you are able, consider a donation of any amount to the LaunchGood fundraising campaign for Kordia to help with medical expenses and the ongoing legal fight against her deportation.
  • Support Justice for Migrants which offers material assistance and information for women and men detained at Batavia Federal Detention Facility outside Buffalo, NY.

 

In solidarity and with collective care,
Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN.