BREAKING: ICE THREATENS TO RE-DETAIN OUMAR YAIDE UPON ARRIVAL TO U.S.

For immediate release

Community members and leaders call on elected officials to demand ICE release Oumar to his community

San Francisco, CA - After nearly two months of noncompliance with a federal court order, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) plans to bring Oumar Yaide back to the United States on Saturday, February 29, 2020. A federal court had ruled in December 2019 that DHS had possibly violated Oumar’s rights by erroneously deporting him to Chad, where Oumar faces violence, imprisonment, or even death for being a member of the LGBTQ community. 

The DHS has not disclosed exactly when or where Oumar will arrive in Northern California, but did inform Oumar’s legal team that they planned to re-detain him. Oumar’s community and his legal team are advocating for him to be released to his chosen family.

“There is no reason to place Oumar in custody again after ICE erroneously deported him in the first place,” says Sean Lai McMahon, Oumar’s immigration attorney at Pangea Legal Services. “Oumar has a pending motion to reopen his case, and does not pose a flight risk or danger to the community.” Edwin Carmona-Cruz, a Co-Director at Pangea Legal Services says, “Elected officials across the country should be outraged and alarmed that, after what he has been through, DHS seeks to detain Oumar again.  ICE must exercise prosecutorial discretion and release Oumar to his chosen family and community in San Francisco!”

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Press Release: California immigrant rights advocates ‌condemn militarized escalation against sanctuary cities

For immediate release

Community organizations stand ready with 24 hour legal assistance hotlines to monitor and defeat feds’ intimidation tactics and abuse of power.

The following is a statement from the “Power,‌ ‌Not‌ ‌Panic”‌ ‌Emergency‌ ‌Action‌ ‌Committee‌ including: Pangea Legal Services, Immigrant Defense Advocates, San Francisco Rapid Response Network, California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance, North Bay Rapid Response Network, SIREN, Freedom for Immigrants, California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, Long Beach Community Defense Network, Indivisible SF, Pajaro Valley Rapid Response, Rapid Response Network of Monterey County, Dolores Street Community Services, San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network, Marin Rapid Response Network, San Diego Rapid Response Network, The Rapid Response Network in Santa Clara County, The Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership (ACILEP), Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, Faith in Action, NorCal Resist, Alianza Sacramento, Campaign for Immigrant Detention Reform, Sacramento ACT, Sacramento Rapid Response Network, San Mateo Rapid Response Network, and SURJ San Francisco.

In the face of militarized aggression and an ugly campaign of intimidation from the Trump administration’s deportation force, we call upon all Californians to respond with power, not panic. We have defeated these intimidation tactics before, and we are ready to do so again. 

The announcement by this administration that it would be sending BORTAC agents to sanctuary cities is a calculated maneuver to promote fear and intimidate cities and states that are upholding our values of common humanity and equal justice for everyone, including immigrants. According to ICE’s own words to the New York Times, these tactics are designed to be a “show of force” against our communities. 

California has been the target of multiple high-profile ICE raids and operations, and each time our communities have stood together and prevented mass raids from taking place, while exposing ICE’s racial profiling, violation of due process, and deceitful behavior.

California is home to a robust infrastructure of attorneys, legal observers, faith and community leaders, and dozens of rapid response hotlines that continue to monitor ICE activity, and ensure that anyone who encounters ICE has access to legal assistance and support. 

Sending militarized units threatens the social fabric of our communities and separates families. We will continue to uphold our shared values of compassion, inclusion, human rights and love to protect our communities. 

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U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE WANTS TO #BRINGOUMARHOME, NOTES DHS’ TROUBLING DELAY IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE FEDERAL COURT ORDER

February 7, 2020

For immediate release

Oumar Yaide’s legal team at Pangea Legal Services releases a statement following a federal status conference regarding DHS’ compliance with U.S. District Court Judge Breyer’s order to bring Oumar back to the United States:

In a status conference on Friday, February 7, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security made unsubstantiated claims as to why the government cannot comply with the federal court order issued by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer back in December 18, 2019. Judge Breyer emphasized that the U.S. government created this situation and wants Oumar to be brought back. Given the troubling delay in compliance with the federal order, Judge Breyer summoned a representative of DHS to report to a follow-up status conference set for February 14, 2020. 

“DHS is currently dragging their feet,” said Sean Lai McMahon, Oumar’s attorney, “To date, DHS has not presented a concrete plan as to how Oumar will be brought back. Oumar is making his best efforts, while living in fear of being targeted, and we expect that DHS does their part too.”

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY NOT IN COMPLIANCE OF FEDERAL JUDGE’S ORDER, STATUS CONFERENCE IDENTIFIES

January 31, 2020

For immediate release

Oumar Yaide’s legal team at Pangea Legal Services releases a statement following a federal status conference regarding DHS’ compliance with U.S. District Court Judge Breyer’s order to bring Oumar back to the United States:

In a status conference on Friday, January 31, Judge Charles Breyer affirmed the urgency and importance of returning Oumar to the United States as quickly as possible. Judge Breyer stated the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) is currently not in compliance with his order to return Oumar to the U.S. Underlying the urgency of this case, Judge Breyer set a  status conference for next Friday, February 7, and has demanded that DHS provide an explanation by that date of the exact steps they will take to return Oumar quickly and safely to the United States. Judge Breyer emphasized that, in order to maintain the rule of law, court orders must be followed, or appealed -- not ignored.

“Judge Breyer’s statements today support our longstanding position: if the government can obtain travel documents to deport an individual, then the government can obtain travel documents to bring them back,” said Sean Lai McMahon, Oumar’s immigration attorney. “Bureaucratic hurdles should not be an obstacle or a burden to enforcing Oumar’s due process rights and right to seek asylum in the United States.”

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FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS DHS TO BRING DEPORTED GAY CHADIAN BACK TO THE U.S.

December 27, 2019

For immediate release

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS DHS TO BRING DEPORTED GAY CHADIAN BACK TO THE U.S.

San Francisco, CA. - Late afternon on December 18, 2019, a federal judge in the Northern District in California ordered the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to bring Oumar Yaide, a gay Chadian, back to the United States after he was unlawfully deported overnight. Oumar’s legal team filed a habeas petition and temporary restraining order (“TRO”) the day they learned DHS was deporting Oumar, arguing that it is a violation of his due process rights to summarily remove him while he still has claims for relief from deportation in the United States. In a rare move, the federal court issued a temporary decision finding that DHS must correct their error by bringing Oumar back to the United States to continue to fight his case. Now, Oumar’s legal team is working to facilitate his return to the U.S. as fast as possible.

“We are heartened by this decision, and won’t stop fighting until Oumar is back home in San Francisco and free among his friends and community,” said his immigration attorney, Sean Lai McMahon from Pangea Legal Services. “Now is the time to hold the government accountable and ensure they comply with the judge's orders,” says Edwin Carmona-Cruz, Co-Director at Pangea, “We call on our state and federal officials to ascend to this call for Oumar’s safe return.”

Oumar is a beloved member of his community in San Francisco, where he has lived for almost 10 years. Oumar came to the United States with his cousin in 2009 seeking asylum as a political dissident, but lost his case in 2014. Since then, he had been appealing his asylum case. 

In August 2019, ICE seized Oumar in his apartment in San Francisco, arrested him claiming to be looking for someone else, and took him to Yuba County Jail. Oumar’s legal team filed a Motion to Reopen at the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), based on the fact that the government of Chad criminalized homosexuality in 2017, increasing the threat to LGBTQ individuals -- a claim he was not able to raise at his first asylum hearing. 

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DEMAND ICE TO RELEASE DYING 82-YEAR-OLD GRANDFATHER WITH CANCER DETAINED BY ICE INCOMMUNICADO

November 27, 2019

For immediate release

FAMILY, COMMUNITY GROUPS, AND ATTORNEY DEMAND ICE TO RELEASE DYING 82-YEAR-OLD GRANDFATHER WITH CANCER DETAINED BY ICE INCOMMUNICADO

Bakersfield, CA - Mr. J Elias Solorio Lopez (A# ending in -2863) is a lawful permanent resident grandfather who is dying from multiple forms of cancer. Mr. Solorio Lopez was until recently detained at the privately owned Mesa Verde Detention Facility, operated by The GEO Group, Inc. Mr. Solorio Lopez's health has rapidly deteriorated while in ICE detention. A medical doctor has recently told Mr. Solorio Lopez that he may not have much time left to live. Mr. Solorio’s family worries his story may follow the pattern of recent deaths reported by ICE.

ICE has transferred Mr. Solorio Lopez, who is also partially deaf and suffers from high blood pressure, to a hospital in an undisclosed location. ICE has refused to tell Mr. Solorio Lopez’s family where he is currently detained, and is denying their request to visit their grandfather during what may be his final moments. ICE is also denying Mr. Solorio Lopez access to his legal team, in violation of due process.

A “Call to Action” by Mr. Solorio Lopez’s family and the Mesa Verde Liberation Front has been made across social media platforms and to congressional offices, to demand that ICE disclose Mr. J Elias Solorio Lopez’s location and release him immediately, so that he can speak to his family and legal representatives.

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California Passes AB 32, Shutting Down Private Prisons

California Passes AB 32, Shutting Down Private Prisons

Pangea clients and grassroots community advocates are the visionaries behind it 

On Friday, October 11th, our communities won an important fight: the fight to end private prisons from profiting off of people of color, the poor, and those who have been failed by this system.  AB 32, a new law in California, will prohibit the operation of private, for-profit prisons, including facilities that operate as immigration detention centers.   

Pangea was proud to advocate for AB 32 along with our community and an intersectional coalition of immigrant rights and criminal justice advocates. Pangea clients like Floricel Liborio Ramos educated the public and lawmakers on the need to abolish prisons by sharing first hand experiences. Floricel’s for-profit detention at Mesa Verde Detention Center in California caused her to work for a dollar a day cleaning toilets, just so she could afford the exorbitant fees for phone calls to her three minor U.S. citizen children. For over a year, this was Floricel’s reality. For over a year, the private corporation, GEO Group, profited off of Floricel’s body and labor. For over a year, tens of thousands of tax dollars were spent to imprison her.

For years, Pangea has seen our immigrant clients unnecessarily imprisoned in for-profit facilities that tear people away from their loved ones and crush people into abandoning their cases, even when they qualify for immigration relief. We have seen the hardship and trauma that incarceration causes to individuals, families, and communities. The pain is irreparable. With AB 32, California will no longer allow this private profiting off of other people’s pain. 

AB 32 stands in a continuum of community victories that made its passage possible. In 2017, California passed two bills that limited the expansion of public and private immigration prisons, SB 29 and AB 103. As a result, the inhumane nature of detention facilities were increasingly monitored and exposed, pushing several California counties to terminate their contracts with ICE. In essence, SB 29 and AB 103 created a pathway for AB 32.  

While AB 32 and its predecessor bills are an important step toward fewer prisons and detention facilities, we must remain clear about the task ahead. Across the country, both Democrats and Republicans continue to increase budgets for jails, prisons, and immigration facilities. “We have to shut down all prisons, not just private, not just for immigrants, and not just in California – but for all black, brown, and other individuals who have been criminalized, incarcerated, and exploited through our current system,” said Jehan Laner Romero, Floricel’s attorney at Pangea Legal Services and legal advocate for AB 32. “With fewer detention centers in California, ICE and for-profit corporations detain and profit off of fewer people like my clients,” said Ms. Laner Romero. 

After the legislature passed AB 32, Pangea client Floricel, community partners, and advocates gather at the Capitol in Sacramento to celebrate, 10/10/2019.

As Advocates Prepare for Closing of Private Jails, Case Highlights Power of Community-legal Partnerships to Free Immigrants

October 17, 2019

As Advocates Prepare for Closing of Private Jails, Case Highlights Power of Community-legal Partnerships to Free Immigrants

Companies profit by keeping families separated, but soon private prisons will be phased out of California.

San Francisco, CA -- Yesterday local mom Aida Andrade Amaya was finally released from immigration custody after a nearly 11-month ordeal that highlights the injustice immigrants face. The release came as the result of both community organizing and legal advocacy — with a lawsuit filed in federal court on October 10, 2019 and grassroots fundraising. ICE punitively required a bond even though she won her asylum case. Andrade's release comes as advocates are preparing for the closure of for-profit detention facilities in California under AB 32 — and demanding that all detained people be freed. While Andrade was held at the Yuba County jail under contract with ICE, the community-legal partnership that secured her release has the power to free many people held in private detention as well.

Ten months ago, in the middle of preparation for her asylum case, Aida was yanked out of her home by ICE and imprisoned away from her two children, Mario and Jade. Aida missed Mario's first birthday and wondered every day in prison if he would remember her when she saw him again. ICE detained Aida in November 2018 based on false claims issued in the form of an Interpol Red Notice against her in El Salvador, six years after Aida arrived to the United States.  After hearing from four expert witnesses, listening to Aida’s heart-wrenching testimony, and observing Aida’s zealous community support that consistently packed the courtroom, no reasonable judge could deny Aida protection in the United States.  She was granted asylum and a work permit while in prison, while DHS continued to use the false claims in the Interpol Red Notice to keep Aida detained. 

It wasn't until ICE and the Attorney General faced a federal lawsuit, that they ended the unlawful detention of asylee, mother, and Santa Mateo County resident, Aida Carolina Andrade Amaya. But not before requiring her to pay $3,000. Andrade’s family worried how they would come up with the funds and luckily, the bond was posted by the Bay Area Immigrant Bond Fund, which uses community donations to help detained individuals across the state. 

It’s these types of abuses that led California to pass AB 32, a bill banning for-profit, private prisons from operating in California. “AB 32 is a step in the right direction, a morally right direction. We have to continue to advocate and shut down all prisons, not just private, not just for immigrants, and not just in California — but for all communities of color, and other individuals who have been criminalized, incarcerated, and exploited through this current system,” said Jehan Laner Romero, Aida’s immigration attorney at Pangea Legal Services and an advocate for AB 32.

PRESS RELEASE: Attorneys File Federal Lawsuit; Community Advocates and Local Elected Official Announce ‘No-Cooperation’ in ICE Raids

For immediate release

Attorneys File Federal Lawsuit; Community Advocates and Local Elected Official Announce ‘No-Cooperation’ in ICE Raids

ICE’s announcement that it will not provide attorney access to detained individuals during its planned operations this Sunday have prompted a federal lawsuit from lawyers. The lawsuit seeks to stop ICE from denying access to counsel to Bay Area residents.

Community advocates and SF Supervisor Hillary Ronen call on public officials, employees, and private companies to not facilitate ICE raids in circumvention of due process and people’s right to counsel.

July 13, 2019

Northern California - ACLU attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Pangea Legal Services and other pro bono attorneys seeking access to clients during scheduled ICE raids. With the lawsuit pending, advocates are on high alert and are taking steps to ensure that ICE does not circumvent legal protections through unauthorized detention space. This would not be the first time that ICE has sought additional detention space in California to skirt Sanctuary Laws, which have limited and reduced bed space at inhumane ICE facilities. Previously ICE has utilized airports, hotels, and private parking lots to detain individuals away from public accountability and access to lawyers. Already, local unions and hotel companies have announced a policy of no-cooperation in ICE’s planned raids as a result. Likewise cities across the Bay Area have affirmed that no city agency or employee will cooperate with the planned enforcement action.

“In the city of San Francisco, a city of refuge, which has historically protected immigrants, and allocated funding for immigrant defense, it is deeply concerning that ICE would violate the rights of individuals to an attorney and due process through politically motivated raids,” said Hillary Ronen, San Francisco Supervisor for District 9. “My office stands with the immigrant community and calls on public officials and private companies alike to protect the rights of immigrants by refusing to cooperate in any way with ICE’s policies of family separation.”

Community advocates, unions, Rapid Response Networks, and elected officials, including Supervisor Ronen, are holding a press conference on Saturday, July 13, at 2PM at the San Francisco International Airport. The press conference will inform the immigrant community of available legal resources, hotlines to report ICE activity, and that city employees including employees at the San Francisco International Airport will not provide detention space or special accommodations for ICE. Advocates call upon other airports, as well as public and private entities to no cooperate with ICE.

“It is deeply concerning that ICE is violating people’s right to an attorney by conducting weekend operations and seeking detention space outside of normal processing centers,” said Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, immigration attorney at Pangea Legal Services, and named Plaintiff in the federal lawsuit. “If ICE is incapable of providing basic constitutional safeguards, then ICE has no business conducting unlawful operations, and we will make sure that they don’t.”

Who: “Power, Not Panic” Emergency Action Committee

Where: San Francisco International Airport - “International Garage G”

Time: Saturday July 13, 2019, 2PM

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PRESS RELEASE: Federal Judge in Northern California puts ICE on notice, expects access to counsel for detained individuals

For immediate release

Federal Judge in Northern California puts ICE on notice, expects access to counsel for detained individuals

San Francisco, CA. - An Emergency Temporary Restraining Order filed by the ACLU of Northern California on behalf of Pangea Legal Services and other pro bono attorneys challenged access to counsel violations documented in the Bay Area as early as last Sunday and in anticipation of new operations this weekend.

In the decision issued by a federal court judge in California’s Northern District stated, “[T]he Court expects that a noncitizen will not be removed unless and until a reasonable opportunity to talk with an attorney has been provided.” While the judge forewent enjoining ICE, the Court put ICE on notice that it expects the agency to comply with the law and respect people’s right to an attorney.

To ensure compliance with this federal mandate, pro bono attorneys, legal observers, and community advocates will monitor and document any impediments placed by ICE on the right to counsel should mass raids take place in the Bay Area.

“Our mission is clear: wherever ICE processes individuals, our pro bono attorneys will be there - at remote processing centers, at airports, hotels, everywhere,” said Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, immigration attorney at Pangea Legal Services. “The federal judge clearly expects that ICE will provide access to counsel during any planned raids. Should they fail to do so, our attorneys are prepared to take ICE back to federal court. We will monitor this closely”

Rapid response networks remain prepared and available for detained individuals, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please call a rapid response line in your county in the event that you suspect ICE activity, before you publicize on social networks.

Adelanto Ends Its ICE Contract: Pangea Demands Just Closure - Release of Immigrant Detainees

City of Adelanto Terminates ICE Contract with Largest Immigration Prison in California: Legal Advocates Demand the Immediate Release and Reunification of All Detained Immigrants with their Families and Communities

“Our lives don't matter to them. We could die in here and there's nothing we can do."  – Miguel Angel, immigrant detainee  

“I condemn ICE’s programs and the way they work trying to squeeze money out of detained immigrants and their family members. That’s inhumane, really inhumane.” – Walter, brother of an immigrant detainee

On Friday, March 29, 2019, the Adelanto City Council announced the termination of its immigration prison contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the private multi-billion-dollar corporation, GEO Group, that oversees the largest immigration prison in California. The announcement comes after hunger strikes by immigrants, lawsuits, and a report by the California Attorney General exposed the inhumane conditions inside the Adelanto Detention Facility, involving medical neglect, sexual assault, and the deaths of multiple immigrants. Adelanto’s termination was preceded by a series of other cities ending their contracts with ICE and private corporations in California:

• Orange County ended its contract with ICE at two local jails in the last week

• The City of McFarland ended its contract with ICE at Mesa Verde Detention Center (operated by GEO Group) in Bakersfield in 2018

• Contra Costa County ended its contract with ICE at the West County Detention Facility in Richmond in 2018

• Sacramento County ended its contract with ICE at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Elk Grove 2018

• Santa Ana ended its contract with ICE in 2016

Pangea Legal Services and our clients continue to expose the abuse of immigrants in GEO and other private prison facilities. “We want the immediate release of all GEO detainees at Adelanto and reunification with their families and loved ones,” said Jehan Laner Romero, Director of Advocacy at Pangea Legal Services. “Immigration is a civil matter and people do not need to be detained to pursue their cases; their detention is inhumane,” she stated.

One Pangea client, Miguel Angel, stated that for-profit detention centers put immigrant lives at risk: “It's because our lives don't matter to them. We could die in here and there's nothing we can do."

In 2017, the California legislature passed SB 29, the Dignity Not Detention Act, which aimed to halt the growth of private, for-profit immigration prison facilities in the state of California.  This law was passed along with AB 103, which prevents public jails from entering into new contracts with ICE or expanding or modifying existing contracts.

With fewer operational detention centers in California, private corporations like GEO Group and CoreCivic (formerly known as “Correction Corporation of America”) are now beginning to sign direct contracts with ICE, circumventing California’s policies that aim to end the for-profit detention of immigrants. “I condemn ICE’s programs and the way they work trying to squeeze money out of detained immigrants and their family members. That’s inhumane, really inhumane,” said Walter, the brother of an immigrant detainee at a GEO prison. “For ICE to argue that they are keeping people in there for that long for any other reason doesn’t make sense to me. They just want to make money out of our families,” he said.

Together with our clients and those directly impacted by immigration detention, Pangea calls for a complete closure of all immigrant prison facilities in California and an end to the practice of imprisoning immigrants nationwide. We call for grassroots campaigns demanding just closures and the release of all immigrants to their loved ones and communities.

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