Venezuelan Activist Willian Gimenez Gonzalez Is Released

Venezuelan activist Willian Gimenez from Chicago, leader of the labor group that organizes day laborers at Home Depot stores, who was detained approximately one month ago by ICE and transferred to North Lake, was released on Tuesday. I had the pleasure of seeing him as his colleagues from Chicago came to pick him up so that he could continue fighting his asylum cases and his lawsuit against Home Depot and the Chicago police for civil rights abuses from his home in Chicago.

Willian was released by order of a federal judge in Flint, Michigan, after a petition for habeas corpus alleging the injustice of his detention without the right to bail. The judge's ruling gave ICE the option of releasing him or giving him a bail hearing to be released on parole.

The Detroit Immigration Office, as it has done in other Habeas Corpus cases in Detroit, decided to release him from detention in North Lake without waiting for a custody hearing or paying bail for his release on parole. We are satisfied and happy about this. Several lawyers, including myself, participated in his defense.

We continue to file Habeas Corpus petitions for other immigrants detained by ICE in federal court, mostly in Detroit, where judges are a little more liberal in allowing immigrants, especially those who entered the country without permission, to obtain their freedom. As I have told you in recent weeks, if you have family members or friends detained in detention centers in Michigan or other states who have been denied the opportunity for a bail hearing because they entered the United States without permission, you should speak with me or any other attorney from a civil rights organization such as the ACLU to see if we can file an appeal to request their release.

I am very happy about Willian's release because in these times of so much bad news and so many people being detained and deported, it is good to see that some people are being released. Unfortunately, we have also heard many complaints about detention centers, including the new one called North Lake near Baldwin, Michigan, which has a capacity of 1,850 people and currently holds more than 1,200, including more than 100 women, and continues to grow every day.

There are complaints about the food, meal times, water temperature in the showers, and general conditions, as well as about the fact that many people are being punished by being sent to what they call “the hole” or solitary confinement just for asking questions of the officers or claiming their rights.

If you also have family members or acquaintances detained by ICE who have complaints about conditions in detention centers, it is important that you let us know as soon as possible so that they can be investigated. We have also heard complaints at other detention centers, such as Battle Creek, where there is a problem with the temperature because the rooms are very cold. Even when I go to visit my clients, I have to dress very warmly. Unfortunately, immigrants who are detained do not have the opportunity to have warm clothing. Other problems include access to medical care, legal assistance, and food.

It is very sad to see that with the budget blockade in Congress, many programs such as food stamps and SNAP that help the most needy have been eliminated due to lack of funds, but they have money to detain people and even increase the number of detentions. Currently, there are almost 2,000 non-citizens imprisoned in Michigan and more than 60,000 immigrants detained by ICE throughout the United States, and that number continues to grow every day. However, there is no money to help federal workers who are not receiving their salaries. This is another example of the great contradictions of the Trump administration.