Stories

Drawing strength from the War on Crime and the War on Terror, the deportation machine has been a growing feature in the landscape of carceral punishment over the past 25 years. Below we share stories of resistance and resilience.

Marcella Vitulli 6/29/21 Marcella Vitulli 6/29/21

Colin

“I have a little memory of there… because, you know, I was born there…. But I've spent more than half of my life incarcerated and so that, in a sense, felt like, you know, that was my home.”

Marcella Vitulli 6/28/21 Marcella Vitulli 6/28/21

Elvis

“… as an immigrant incarcerated—you want to be at the table with policy makers that make everyday policies about us. But we do not have the opportunity to be at the table. A lot of time we reach out to policy makers to try to bring the table to us, and we get a deaf ears.”

Marcella Vitulli 6/27/21 Marcella Vitulli 6/27/21

Eva

“At times when I hang out with friends who are married, or I hang out with my sister who’s married… it’s another reminder that he isn’t here…”

Marcella Vitulli 6/26/21 Marcella Vitulli 6/26/21

Fanta

“…I'm just waking up out of my sleep. And I go to open the door, and there are officers right outside the door. And I watched, as they’re handcuffing my dad, but then they slammed the door closed. And that was literally the last––that's the last image in my head that I have of my father.”

Marcella Vitulli 6/25/21 Marcella Vitulli 6/25/21

Javier

“… When you look at my history … people look at that and say Hell no, these dudes like this don’t deserve a second chance, first and foremost. Secondly, people like that don't change. So that's why I think that guys like me, men and women like me, are good examples of that.”

Marcella Vitulli 6/23/21 Marcella Vitulli 6/23/21

Jose

“…I found out I was a legal permanent resident, but that was about it. And then I was just released, and I moved on with my life. I didn't know anything else. Until, you know, when ICE came to my door…”

Marcella Vitulli 6/22/21 Marcella Vitulli 6/22/21

Juan

“It's terrible. Every night, every day is constantly scared, you know, they’re coming to pick you up or whatever.”

Marcella Vitulli 6/21/21 Marcella Vitulli 6/21/21

Melinda

“…the system never lets you go. And once you get caught up into the system, it's hard to get out because they try to keep you in. It doesn't matter how you try to fight, know what I mean? You fight and you fight, and you get out, but then there's always something…”

Marcella Vitulli 6/20/21 Marcella Vitulli 6/20/21

Samilia

“…we weren’t truly Sierra Leoneans, but we truly weren’t Americans, either. We were just, just in the middle, you know, trying to survive.”

Marcella Vitulli 6/19/21 Marcella Vitulli 6/19/21

Samuel

“To them it was just the end of the story- just a black man and drugs involved… Put it in the statistics, put it on books, send them off away, send to prison, never find out. Did he get help? Does he need help?…”