With stories of deportations to El Salvadoran prisons and in secret middle-of-the-night flights dominating headlines, advocates warn that detention in American immigration facilities is a harrowing punishment in itself and one that looms large over many residents of the United States as President Donald Trump’s administration has ramped up its deportation campaign.
Stefania Artega, a co-founder of the Carolina Migrant Network, helps operate a hotline that people in North Carolina and South Carolina can call to report sightings of immigration enforcement in their communities, as well as to access legal resources. She told Salon that recently some have begun calling to report emergencies — before calling the police — because they’re scared that any contact with law enforcement might lead to ICE agents knocking on their door.
