The Times reports that Nadeem had to travel to meet with ICE officers under supervision, a process that Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) Attorney Susan E. Reed said understandably she made “pretty nervous. From the early months of the previous administration, proponents condemned the rise of “silent robberies” as immigrants were detained after years of regular ICE check-in during their appointments with officials.
Fortunately, Nadeem’s appointment seemed okay. Reed told the Times that Nadeem got more good news when she found out that her U Visa application would be expedited. “MS. Reed said she could not elaborate on how Ms. Nadeem was eligible for the visa program.” However, it is a special type of visa used by undocumented violent crime victims to work with law enforcement agencies Prosecutors must also provide “certification” as part of this process.
In a video MIRC shared on Twitter, Nadeem thanked her longtime supporters and guidelines for contributing to this week. “Today I have freedom. I want to say thank you, ”she said. Nadeem “thanks Rev. Nathan Dannison, Susan Reed of MIRC, and everyone who helped along the way.” MIRC tweeted. The church even built a small apartment in the basement of the building to protect them. “While the sanctuary was never an immigration solution, we celebrate with Saheeda, ”MIRC continued. “We appreciate Biden Admin’s new approach and will continue to work towards a more equitable system for all immigrants.”
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🎉 Exciting news! After 3 long years MIRC’s customer Aunt Saheeda is leaving the shrine @KalamazooFCC! New ICE priorities have brought relief to this beloved member of the Kalamazoo community. “Today I have freedom. I want to thank you. ”
👀https: //t.co/hDmEXquGia
– MIRC (@Michimmigrant) February 10, 2021
While other immigrants have recently left the sanctuary – like Oneita and Clive Thompson, who left the Pennsylvania sanctuary after nearly 850 days – dozens of others remain, including two people in Michigan, according to the Times. Despite the good news for Nadeem and the Thompsons, ICE remains a major threat to the immigrant communities as a whole. In recent weeks, ICE has specifically targeted black immigrants, attacked immigrants in custody, and pushed others, including infants and children, back into riot.
While ICE’s policy is to generally avoid enforcement in “sensitive places” such as churches, other unfortunate tactics have also been used to terrorize immigrants in protected areas. Prism’s Tina Vasquez reported late last year that the agency had used an “obscure law” to try to impose astronomical fines of up to half a million dollars on a number of people protected by churches. ICE knew that immigrants could not pay these fines. The target was emotional terrorism.
“I don’t know how they expect me to pay that fine if I can’t even work legally in this country,” one woman told Vasquez. “Are you catching me breaking the law?” Accountability at ICE and the protection of immigrant communities must begin now with the knowledge that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has broad, well-established authority to eliminate the individual risk of immigrant deportation. The cases of Saheeda and Nadeem Oneita and Clive Thompson made this clear.
“Like so many other immigrants, Saheeda’s legal struggle for dignity and lasting protection from deportation continues and we will continue to walk by her side,” Reed continued, according to MLive. “Aunt Saheeda is a lovely person who has done nothing but take care of others in our community. It gives us hope. We celebrate with her today, we appreciate the government’s new approach to her case, and we will continue to work for a more just system for all immigrants. “
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