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Email ICE and Demand: Free Mr.F

Mr. F is a Muslim man who came to the U.S. seeking asylum with his wife and two children.

Currently detained at an ICE prison in Laredo, TX, he is sick and in need of critical medical attention while his wife who just gave birth to their newborn baby. This family — separated by the ICE detention-deportation machine for over 5 months — must be reunited NOW.

Mr. F's family left their home country due to criminalization and persecution based on their religion, Islam. They spent weeks detained together in a family detention center — described by Judge Dolly Gee as being "on fire" because of the spread of COVID-19.

ICE weaponized the very persecution Mr. F faced at the hands of the Tajik and Russian governments to pain him as a "national security" risk and separate him from his family. The coded language of "national security" used to demonize Muslims in the U.S. is too familiar to be overlooked: systemic Islamophobia is the reason ICE continues to imprison Mr. F.

Over the past 5 months, as COVID-19 ravages prisons and jails across the U.S. [1], Mr. F became one of the hundreds of incarcerated people who have contracted COVID-19 and had to suffer and recover alone in inhumane prison conditions. Despite repeated attempts to access care, he has received limited medical attention while his condition worsens.

On the other side of the bars, Mr. F's wife has just given birth to their third child. His wife, the newborn baby, and their 3 and 5 year old children are currently staying at a church in San Antonio, and the pastor there is ready to receive Mr. F so that the family can be reunited during the continued pendency of their immigration cases.

Join MPower Change, RAICES Texas, SAALT, and more to let ICE know we won't allow them to detain Mr. F (or anyone) in dangerous, punitive conditions, and punish them for being Muslim and seeking asylum.

Call the Laredo ICE Assistant Field Office Director Robert Cerna and demand ICE #FreeMrF!

Sources:
1. '"A Ticking Time Bomb': Advocates Warn COVID-19 Is Spreading Rapidly Behind Bars," NPR, 28 April, 2020

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Email ICE and Demand: Free Mr.F

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Dear [recipient position will go here]  [recipient name will go here],

I am writing this letter to request that your office release Mr. F (A-213-362-642) from the Laredo Processing Center so that he can be reunited with his wife, children, including a newborn baby expected to be born before the holidays.

Mr. F sought refuge in the United States from the governments of Russia and Tajikistan.  For five years, police and intelligence officials persecuted, tortured, and levied false allegations against him because he is a religious minority.  Horrific examples of his torture include when they set Mr. F’s beard on fire, and when police administered electric shocks to his body.

When Mr. F entered the United States, DHS detained his family and him at the Karnes family immigration prison.  DHS did not consider him a danger at that time.  While at Karnes Mr. F openly shared that he was falsely accused of extremism with an asylum officer, who determined he had a credible fear of persecution.  It appears that ICE then used this information to determine that he was a "danger" to the community.  I am appalled that ICE is playing in to systemic Islamophobia. In doing so, I believe you are you are perpetuating Mr. F’s persecution.

Mr. F is not a danger to anyone. Instead, Mr. F is a victim of institutionalized Islamophobia.  Not only is he detained because of false allegations tied to his religious practice, but he has also suffered discrimination from ICE and your contractors.  Mr. F reports that your guards have called him a terrorist.  Mr. F has repeatedly been served foods that violate his religious beliefs, though the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and ICE’s own detention standards protect Mr. F’s right to religiously appropriate meals.

Mr. F’s health continues to be of major concern. He contracted COVID-19 through his detention - a grave risk given his ongoing and serious health problems. I am concerned his fragile condition will continue to degrade as he waits for his appeal to resolve. There is no need to detain him further - especially as he awaits a decision from the immigration courts.  Dr. Shela Sridhar, MD, MPH, an internal medicine specialist associated with the Harvard Medical School Human Rights Collaborative and Asylum Clinic, has written in support of the need for Mr. F to be released for his safety and health.

Mr. F and his family entered the United States at an official Port of Entry to seek asylum.  That means only you have the power to release him.  Please do the right thing and let Mr. F be with his family before the new year as he continues his immigration case.

Sincerely,
[your name will go here]
[your email address will go here] [your location will go here]

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