Delaney hunger strike ends, human rights abuses continue
Welcome to our news segment: TL;DR of Immigration News, for when the news is Too Long and you Didn’t Read it.
This is a weekly collection of immigration-related news stories. These bite-size summaries will keep you up to date without overwhelming your inbox.
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Starting this week with an urgent action item:
In the Dallas/Fort Worth area, about 100 people are being abducted by ICE daily, and the immigrant defense hotline is overwhelmed. They are looking for bilingual English/Spanish volunteers anywhere in the US to answer some calls. Even an hour or two a week would help. If you can help, email Alan at awexelblat@gmail.com.
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The Whole World is Watching: DHS, FIFA and the 2026 World Cup
Last Thursday, June 11th, the 2026 FIFA World Cup opened with games in Mexico City and Guadalajara. Games have already been played in stadiums in multiple cities across the US including Los Angeles, Houston, New York, Kansas City, Atlanta, and Miami, to name a few. There are also games being played in Canada.
Even though the World Cup is one of the most high profile sporting events with some of the biggest superstars in the world of professional soccer, this has not stopped DHS from discriminating against certain teams, their support staff, and referees, depending on what country they are coming from. Before the tournament had even started, a Somali referee was refused entry into the US, and multiple teams were searched as they got off their planes. Both team Ghana and team Uzbekistan were basically strip searched on the tarmac.
Meanwhile, organizers are getting ready for possible ramped up ICE presence wherever games are being played across the country. In Los Angeles, the hospitality workers union held a march to the world cup headquarters on May Day. No Ice in the Cup is a coalition of artists and activists that started in Seattle and is dedicated to holding cities accountable to make the games safe for everyone to view without fear of ICE activity. Whether it’s ICE watch trainings, protests, or ways for communities to come together safely around viewing the games, organizers are doing what they can to make the tournament as safe as possible for both fans and workers.
And on a more positive note, check out this story on the city of Lawrence, Kansas, who have adopted team Algeria, whose training base is in their city. Overnight the entire town became team Algeria fans, and the team has responded in kind by signing autographs, making some of their practices public, and running drills with local kids. World Cup fever transcends borders.
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Chicago area Rabbis and activists gather to demand the release of Salah Sarsour
On Sunday, June 14, an unprecedented, diverse coalition of midwestern Jews led an interfaith vigil of 150 people who chanted, sang and marched to the Clay County Jail in Brazil, Indiana to petition for the immediate release of Salah Sarsour. A father, grandfather, and community leader who has lived in Wisconsin for 33 years, Mr. Sarsour was arrested and kidnapped by ICE on March 30, and has been held since that time in the prison. Wisconsin Congresswoman Gwen Moor joined the vigil and successfully insisted that she be able to visit Mr. Sarsour.
Congresswoman Moore reported that Sarsour, a type two diabetic, has been unable to test his blood sugar and is in poor health. During his incarceration, he has lost 30 pounds. Prison officials have mocked his requests for the healthy diet so crucial to managing diabetes. He has asked repeatedly to be able to practice his religion and been ridiculed with offers of pork rinds and a Bible instead of a Koran.
As Jews, we understand what it means to be the targets of an autocratic and unjust regime. As a follow-up to the event, Four Illinois rabbis penned a letter advocating for Sarsour’s immediate release. We know that the kidnapping and arrest of our immigrant neighbors will not stop with Muslims like Mr. Sarsour or others baselessly accused of being “criminal aliens.” Injustice starts in one place and always migrates, expanding to rob all of us of our collective rights.
The rabbis write: “As Jews, we believe that every person is an entire universe created b’tselem Elohim — in God’s image. We grieve each person ripped cruelly and unconstitutionally from their family by ICE raids, and each universe destroyed. We will not allow Salah or anyone else to be illegally detained in our name.”
Last second update: Just as we were putting the finishing touches on this week’s newsletter, news broke that a federal judge ordered Mr. Sarsour’s release!
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ICE accused of retaliating against Adelanto hunger strikers with transfers and solitary confinement
As we have seen over and over again, the carceral system uses its power to punish anyone who opposes it, inside or outside its walls. Legal groups and US Representative Jimmy Gomez have documented many of the abuses inside Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where a hunger strike is ongoing.
Outside, ICE keeps up the “nothing to see here” facade while inside it uses restraints, punitive transfers, and solitary confinement against people advocating for their basic human rights. ICE also blatantly ignores habeas orders from courts that should prohibit these transfers; instead, hunger strikers are slapped with final removal orders.
Adelanto is run by GEO Group, a notorious abuser in the private prisons it runs across America, particularly in the centers it runs for ICE. Ironically, the Group’s founder/CEO is himself an immigrant, coming to the US in 1953.
Protests against GEO Group are widespread and recently expanded to include actions against Citizen’s Bank, a major funder.
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Woman’s hypothermia death after her release by ICE is ruled a homicide
Haitian asylum seeker Daphy Michel, 31, died of hypothermia on March 2nd in Pennsylvania. Ms. Michel, who had a significant language barrier, had spent six months in the Washington County Correctional Facility on misdemeanor charges stemming from severe mental health issues. When the charges were withdrawn, she was handed over to ICE. The agency declared her an “illegal alien,” fitted her with an ankle bracelet and released her on February 28.
She was found in a South Shore bus station, where she spent at least 24 hours, largely in sub-freezing temperatures, after being released from federal custody.
The pathologist ruled Ms. Michel’s death a homicide, according to the Allegheny County office of the Medical Examiner, which means “the death was caused by the actions of another individual” but is “not to be interpreted as a declaration of criminal guilt.” A spokesperson for the Allegheny County District Attorney said their office would not provide a full comment until they obtained more information.
Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary for Department of Homeland Security (DHS), issued a statement Sunday denying any wrongdoing on the part of immigration authorities.
ICE is no longer reporting the deaths of detainees within 30 days of their release from custody, ending a policy adopted in 2021 during Joe Biden’s presidency. Health experts say the change will reflect fewer deaths than actually occur without addressing issues in medical care.
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"An invisible migration is happening”
This substack post from Massachusetts organizer Todd Palmer brings a haunting personal view of ICE deportations in Framingham, a small city in the Boston Metro area. The author reflects on the ways that immigrants have helped revitalize the city at different times, most recently starting in the 90s when large numbers of Brazilian immigrants were instrumental in rebuilding a city that had been ravaged by tough economic times.
Now, ICE seems hellbent on trying to undo the progress, growth, and multicultural exchange that has happened in Framingham as a result of immigration. While the author talks a lot about economics, it becomes clear that this is a personal story about the effects of terroristic immigration enforcement on people and their community. Businesses close, attendance at the local public school drops 7% in a single year, and all of these are signs of people being terrorized into staying in their homes and being coerced into a departure called, in a particularly cruel example of Newspeak, “voluntary.”
Palmer says, “The story of Framingham is the story of many towns in Massachusetts. I didn’t realize that I was growing up in a town that was on the decline. I’m saddened that Framingham is on the decline again. And it does not have to be…. ICE is destroying families. ICE is killing my hometown. And this is another reason that ICE must be abolished.”
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Action items:
Help Miss Rachel shut down Dilley Detention Center
Linktree to support detainees at Delaney Hall
Toolkit to support the Adelanto hunger strikers
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Support Never Again Action’s organizing by making a donation today. You can make a tax deductible donation via our fiscal sponsor at this link, or you can donate directly to our 501(c)(4) organization at this link.
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If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for next week’s roundup, drop us a line at neveragainaction@gmail.com.