immigrant activist who infiltrated detention center to be released

by Tim Phillips

Approximately two weeks ago, Claudia Muñoz infiltrated the Calhoun County Jail, a detention facility in Michigan. Muñoz, who entered the U.S. at age 16, is an undocumented National Immigrant Youth Alliance (NIYA) organizer. She intentionally had herself detained to expose abuses and identify people who should be released according to President Obama’s immigration policies. In her words:

I used to be afraid … but I’m not anymore. I know there’s going to be people on the outside who have my back, and who have done this before, and they have given me the power as a community to be unafraid. And I will go in there and I will find every single person that’s in my situation that’s not supposed to be there in the first place.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said late yesterday that Muñoz would be released, like Viridiana Martinez and other NIYA organizers who infiltrated the Broward Transitional Center in Florida last year. Muñoz already proved, however, that the Michigan ICE office is ignoring federal directives. For example, they’ve failed to release other detainees with low-priority cases.