In episode 19 of Art of Citizenry Podcast, Manpreet is joined by Anthony Enriquez, the VP of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at RFK Human Rights. Together, they discuss the complexities of immigration detention in the U.S., focusing on the financial motivations behind privatized detention centers, the historical shifts in immigration policy, and the role of race in shaping these policies. Anthony highlights the significant abuses occurring in detention centers and the need for advocacy and reform to address these issues. This conversation delves into the complex issues surrounding immigration detention centers, their economic impact on local communities, the evolving political narratives around immigration, and the structural challenges within immigration policy. It highlights the importance of local advocacy and the need for oversight and accountability in immigration detention practices, emphasizing the role of community-led movements in shaping a more just immigration system.

Meet Our Guest

Anthony Enriquez is the Vice President of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. He is an attorney working to reduce mass incarceration in the United States by exposing and stopping human rights abuses in the criminal legal and immigration systems. Anthony leads a team of advocates fighting in U.S. courts and international human rights mechanisms in solidarity with grassroots campaigns for accountability for state-sponsored racial discrimination, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

“Immigration detention is more than an immigrants' rights issue alone. The power we give to the U.S. government to inflict abuses on immigrants is inevitably used against citizens: from racial profiling to mass surveillance to prolonged civil detention and even deportation itself. The public funds we use to transform rural economies into private prison towns could have been used for investments in small businesses, manufacturing, and vocational and educational training instead of multi-million-dollar CEO salaries.”  

Take Action.

At this moment the safety of many is under threat. With much uncertainty, members of our communities are living in fear of what lies ahead. The current administration is attempting to fast-track deportations without due process and have already passed a series of executive orders that further push hardline immigration policies and threaten Constitutional rights. Moments like this demand our action. Now is the time to support the efforts of local grassroots organizations and immigration legal services. Also, take a moment to know your rights – regardless of status, you have rights under the U.S. Constitution. 

Resources

• ACLU Know Your Rights - Regardless of your immigration status, you have guaranteed rights under the Constitution. Learn more here about your rights as an immigrant, and how to express them.
• Immigration Know Your Rights Resources - double-sided posters you can print out.
• National Immigration Legal Services Directory - Search for immigration legal services providers by state, county, or detention facility. Only nonprofit organizations that provide free or low-cost immigration legal services are included in this directory.
• Download & Print a Red Card - Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s Red Cards help immigrants exercise those rights and protect themselves in many situations, such as when immigration agents visit our homes. Available in 16 different languages.
• The National Immigration Project - a membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members that litigate, advocate, educate, and build bridges across movements to ensure that those who are impacted by America’s immigration and criminal legal systems are supported.
• Know Your Rights: For Employers & Community Businesses - Workplace raids are a common immigration enforcement tactic, often targeting industries reliant on immigrant labor, such as agriculture and food service.
• Fact Sheet: A High-Level Analysis of Trump's First Executive Actions - An overview of day one executive orders impacting immigration policy.
• For Health Care Workers - ICE can now raid hospitals. Learn about your ethical obligation as a health care provider.

Grassroots Organizations

• La Resistencia is a grassroots organization led by undocumented immigrants and people of color who have been oppressed by the immigration enforcement system in Washington State.
• Global Rights Advocacy offers access to international human rights mechanisms through representation, reporting and education.
• Detention Watch Network brings together advocates to unify strategy, build partnerships and strengthen the movement to end immigration detention.
• Tsuru for Solidarity is a nonviolent, direct action project of Japanese American social justice advocates working to end detention sites and support front-line immigrant and refugee communities.
• Southeast Dignity Not Detention is a coalition composed of over 20 organizations in Louisiana with the goal to shut down all immigration detention centers.
• Justice for Migrant Families is a nonprofit agency that promotes justice for migrant families by providing support to individuals in the federal detention facility in Batavia, information and resources to families in the community, and advocacy both within and beyond the local community.
• South Brooklyn Sanctuary empowers New Yorkers to represent themselves in immigration court.

References to Dive Deeper

• End The Gain On Pain - Report exposes rampant abuse in Louisiana ICE detention facilities
• Conditions at NW Detention Center - UW Center for Human Rights (UWCHR) reports on the conditions at the NWIPC.
• Structural Due Process in Immigration Detention - Law Review article written by Anthony Enriquez referenced in this episode.
• Border & Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism by Harsha Walia

Thank You for Listening 

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For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

Thank you to our producer, Aly Honoré, and editor, Noah Kowalski.

The music featured in the podcast was created by Katrina Zemrak.