Alabama immigrants were detained during scheduled check in meetings with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in central Alabama Wednesday, according to advocates.
Immigration advocates say they saw about seven people detained outside of the ICE office in Homewood Wednesday. The immigrants had arrived for what they thought were routine meetings.
“It was people who have been checking in, who’ve been following the law, that have been doing everything they’re supposed to be doing to maintain their case,” said Allison Hamilton, executive director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice.
Hamilton spoke with detainees who said they had seen at least 50 other detainees in Birmingham’s ICE office in Homewood. Her group also received reports of up to 18 immigrants being detained during check ins in Gadsden. They were taken to the Etowah County Detention Center.
The federal Intensive Supervision Appearance Program allows ICE to monitor people facing immigration proceedings without placing them in custody.
Hamilton said yesterday that the immigrants were told to come to the office with vague reasons, like that the system had crashed and that their information had been lost, so they needed to come in with all their documents to put everything back in the system.
“When they came, they found that ICE was waiting for them,” she said.
A young woman, Adriana, spoke with Hamilton after her mother was detained Wednesday. She and her mother drove early in the morning from Russellville for her mother’s appointment. AL.com reviewed a video of Adriana speaking to Hamilton Thursday.
Her mother has been attending such meetings regularly since she arrived in the U.S. 8 years ago, Adriana said.
Adriana was told to wait in the car while her mother met with officers.
“I started noticing cars coming in, random cars coming in, tinted windows. People in the back, I’m guessing they were detaining them or taking them, deporting them.”
Adriana said she doesn’t understand why her mom has been detained after she came to all her appointments.
“They kind of just gave her false hope that something was going to come out of it. She would have preferred if they would have just told her, ‘We can’t do anything about your case, just take your stuff and go,’” she said in the video.
Law enforcement officials across Alabama have reported making arrests and sending people to detention and possible deportation. On June 3, Mobile County officials arrested 28 people who were allegedly in the country illegally.
Hamilton and volunteers with her group have set up a hotline to share tips about ICE activity in Alabama. People can call (888) 664-2325 for assistance.
Update: This story was updated at 6:33 p.m. Thursday to reflect that Adriana’s mother was detained Wednesday.