New York human-rights groups want a program providing detained immigrants 500 free minutes of phone calls restored.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement terminated the program after pandemic-era funds ran out.

Karim Golding, organizer for the nonprofit Freedom to Thrive, spent time in an ICE detention center for convictions which have since been overturned. He said mental health is important and having outside support is critical, which often means talking on the phone.

"Just imagine that a lot of folks are coming from different countries, don't have the financial capability of paying for phone calls, especially with the harsh conditions in detention - and they can't communicate that," Golding explained. "They can't reach out to their family members once this is gone."

Golding pointed out another reason the program is ending is the increase in detainees means ICE cannot afford to increase the program's budget. People detained in at least 16 facilities across the country report losing free phone minutes, including in New York locations: Orange County Jail and Batavia Service Processing Center.

Some are viewing the policy change as a way to isolate people.

Rosa Santana, interim co-executive director of the Envision Freedom Fund, noted the group has not received many phone calls for help with legal matters, bond issues or commissary services after the policy change. She said families struggle when one member is detained.

"Usually the person who is in detention is the breadwinner, and now families have to be able to figure out how they could bring food and everything that the breadwinner used to bring, pay rent," Santana outlined. "On top of that now, it's like having to pay for phone calls."

Santana emphasized some families cannot visit loved ones more because detention centers are not always easy to get to. Detainees' families often struggle to afford calls too, which can cost up to $3 for 15 minutes. Calls to attorneys and legal services are still free.

Some 15 community and faith-based organizations gathered again this week outside the Geo Group ICE detention facility in Aurora where longtime Denver resident and activist Jeanette Vizguerra is being held.

Protestors have gathered weekly after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Vizguerra during her work break at Target on March 17.

Nate Kassa, organizer, Party for Socialism and Liberation, was a safety marshal during the demonstration calling for her release.

"We're here today to demand freedom for Jeanette Vizguerra," he explained. "She's been imprisoned by the Trump administration for exercising her First Amendment right to free speech. And to speak out for the unjust detentions of people like her, and other immigrants across this country."

Vizguerra was recently named a 2025 recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for her "moral courage and willingness to act on convictions, even at great personal risk."

ICE officials have called Vizguerra a "convicted criminal alien" for entering and remaining in the U.S. without proper documentation, an act the Trump administration considers illegal. ICE also said she has received due process and that a judge has issued a final order for her deportation.

Eight in ten Americans support deporting immigrants who have been convicted of a violent crime, according to a new poll. But after the arrest of documented student activists by masked agents, and the deployment of active military personnel on U.S. soil, a majority of Americans say the Trump administration has gone too far.

Yoselin Corrales, organizer with the group Aurora Unidos, said it is important to stand up against what she sees as the criminalization of people who are politically active.

"We've seen this across our country with activists being arrested and persecuted by the police and by the FBI, and we will not stand for our voices being silenced," she contended.

President Donald Trump campaigned on the promise of mass deportations, and the budget reconciliation bill passed by Congress last week includes the largest investment in detention and deportation in U.S. history. The law earmarks $170 billion to fund Trump's immigration plans, including $45 billion to build new detention centers.


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The Trump administration has made it clear it will cut funding from schools continuing diversity, equity and inclusion programs and with record levels of Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding for detention and deportation in the new federal budget, more school districts are quietly rethinking their policies.

Barbara Marler, an independent education consultant and adviser with over 40 years of experience, is working with school districts to help them rephrase DEI-related language so it will not be flagged in automated searches. She explained her goal is to help shield their work and emphasizes the unprecedented nature of her efforts.

"ESL and bilingual, as a field, has always had some level of controversy," Marler acknowledged. "But this is at a whole 'nother level that I've never seen before."

The Trump administration has called DEI policies "dangerous and demeaning." Marler noted school district leaders tell her the current pressures they face feel insurmountable. So far, she has worked with two districts in Illinois on strategies and expects more will follow since the passage of the new federal budget bill last week.

Alejandra Vázquez Baur, a fellow at the Century Foundation and cofounder and director of the National Newcomer Network, said immigrant justice organizations operating in 'red' states have long been aware of the risks and have adapted their language to continue their work discreetly. She added now, even groups in blue states like Illinois, which once operated more openly, are facing increased pressure to avoid being targeted.

"It's scary, because many people who enter into this work do this because they themselves are immigrants, and/or they have undocumented family members or employees that they fear are at risk should the administration come after them, or should they lose funding and not be able to pay their employees," Vázquez Baur outlined.

The Supreme Court ruling in the 1982 case Plyler v. Doe determined all children in the U.S. have the right to a public education, regardless of immigration status. But Vázquez Baur stressed she is concerned about the chilling effect the current administration is having on such basic rights and freedoms. She warned jeopardizing the rights of immigrant students can lead to the erosion of rights for all.

"Many organizations have to back down as they consider all of their circumstances," Vázquez Baur added. "But for those places that have the ability to do so, those organizations and districts should dig deeper, because we cannot be silent in the face of these attacks."


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A Tennessee immigrant-led group and other advocates are suing the state over a new law they said unfairly targets people who offer shelter to undocumented immigrants.

Of the over 400,000 immigrants living in Tennessee, around 128,000 are undocumented.

Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and its political action committee TIRRC Votes, said her organization is seeking a preliminary injunction to block the "anti-harboring" law from taking effect July 1. She described the law, which would create a felony offense for human smuggling, as having no clear guidance on who it targets or how it will be enforced.

"We believe this law is unconstitutional and an overreach of the state government," Luna emphasized. "For us, SB 392 is ripping apart the very fabric of who we aspire to be as Tennesseans."

Luna noted the lawsuit is backed by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and the American Immigration Council. She added the law could criminalize basic acts of care like churches offering shelter or families living together.

Luna pointed out her organization recently met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia's wife and brother, along with national immigrant rights group CASA, to spotlight his case. She said he was denied fair legal protections, describing the impact it's had on his family.

"We see Kilmar's case as an example of the erosion of due process that is happening to individuals here in Tennessee," Luna outlined. "We had devastating ICE raids earlier in May that resulted in almost 200 people being kidnapped right from their cars in a coordinated operation between the Tennessee Highway Patrol and ICE."

Garcia remains in jail as lawyers debate whether the Justice Department can intervene to block his deportation, should he be released ahead of trial on human smuggling charges. Luna is calling on Tennesseans to stand with immigrant communities by volunteering, donating, or joining advocacy efforts. She added immigrants are at the forefront of building a stronger, multiracial democracy.


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