Shannon Heffernan

The Small House Offering Aid in the Shadow of an ICE Detention Center Amid rising ICE arrests, volunteers provide aid — a meal, a bed, gas money — to anyone visiting someone detained in remote rural Georgia.

Read this moving profile about El Refugio, a hospitality house in Lumpkin, GA, that provides a place for loved ones of immigrants held at Stewart Detention Center to stay, rest, and visit detainees. www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/05/i...

In the Shadow of an Immigrant Detention Center, a Small House Offers Refuge Amid rising ICE arrests, volunteers provide aid — a meal, a bed, gas money — to anyone visiting someone detained in remote rural Georgia.

“People are hurting, families are torn apart. Kids are growing up without their parents."

But the work of El Refugio, a two-story house in a tiny Georgia town where volunteers provide meals, beds, and gas money to anyone visiting someone detained in the area, offers rare refuge.

Thank you!

The Small House Offering Aid in the Shadow of an ICE Detention Center Amid rising ICE arrests, volunteers provide aid — a meal, a bed, gas money — to anyone visiting someone detained in remote rural Georgia.

In the Shadow of an Immigrant Detention Center, a Small House Offers Refuge.

Amid rising ICE arrests, volunteers provide aid — a meal, a bed, gas money — to anyone visiting someone detained in remote rural Georgia. www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/05/i...

The Small House Offering Aid in the Shadow of an ICE Detention Center Amid rising ICE arrests, volunteers provide aid — a meal, a bed, gas money — to anyone visiting someone detained in remote rural Georgia.

We spent 2 days at El Refugio, a hospitality house near one of the largest immigration detention center in the U.S.

Families visiting detained people can go to the house to eat a meal or spend the night. Here's what we learned from people passing through.
www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/05/i...

Evening all,

Today was packed in Chicago's fed court and I appreciate everyone who followed along with my coverage.

If you'd like to help me continue this work (or grow it!) as an indie reporter, any support you can offer goes a long way.

Either way, happy Thursday! Always more news tomorrow.

You are doing excellent work

Some excerpts that stood out to me from District Judge Jeff Cummings' order today, compelling the release of at least some people found to have been detained in violation of a prior consent decree limiting how and when federal immigration agents can carry out warrantless arrests.

///BREAKING/// Judge Jeffrey Cummings orders that by noon of Nov. 17, he will order the release of all of the 615 "Operation Midway Blitz" detainees identified as class participants (at least those still here in the country) once they pay a $1,500 bond.

Marion County agrees to pay out $3M for newspaper raid, expresses regret • Kansas Reflector A handful of county-level officials who were involved in a small-town Kansas newspaper raid in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor.

Marion County agrees to pay out $3M for newspaper raid, expresses regret. Editor says court cases against city continue #ksleg

Essential Equipment Fund CHCF’s Essential Equipment Fund helps Chicago-area journalists stay safe while reporting protests and public events. Apply and support today.

The Chicago Headline Club Foundation has launched the Essential Equipment Fund to help independent and freelance journalists buy gear like respirators and helmets.

headlineclub.org/2025/10/11/e...

How an Ohio Youth Treatment Center Tried to End Escalating Violence A year after taking over Mohican Young Star Academy, new owners and leadership face questions from workers, police and neighbors about its direction.

Once one person trusted me enough to talk, my number spread through the Mohican Young Star Academy network. Over and over, I heard the same thing about the residential treatment facility for boys: someone is going to get hurt.
www.themarshallproject.org/2025/11/06/r...

Their Loved Ones Died Behind Bars. These Keepsakes Are All They Have Left. Five families reflect on the possessions they got back, and the ones they didn’t.

When someone dies behind bars, the officials who run prisons and jails don't always return all of their belongings to their loved ones. Books, drawings, letters, and other memorabilia, for many families, are precious reminders of the person they've lost.

Their Loved Ones Died Behind Bars. These Keepsakes Are All They Have Left. Five families reflect on the possessions they got back, and the ones they didn’t.

Death behind bars, a story in 5 objects:
A receipt is a mom's last connection to her son
A man watches Knicks games w/ his brother's ashes
An estranged child, wonders about a father's lost bible
Travel books, for places un-visited
A muddy hat, too precious to pack away.
tinyurl.com/482hyknt

Oh goodness, a typo: *they

‘Zombie Prisons’: How ICE Detention Is Raising Troubling Facilities From the Dead ICE needs more detention space, and it’s faster to open old facilities than to build new ones.

Etowah County is one example of the "zombie facility" trend that @shannonheffernan.bsky.social reports about here.

ICE is repurposing/reopening older jails and prisons for use in immigration detention.

From August.

www.themarshallproject.org/2025/08/29/m...

Their Loved Ones Died Behind Bars. These Keepsakes Are All They Have Left. Five families reflect on the possessions they got back, and the ones they didn’t.

What happens to a person's belongings in prison after the die?

This is the story of what people in custody left behind, and what it meant to their families to receive (or not receive) those keepsakes.

www.themarshallproject.org/2025/10/30/t...

These kinds of signs... they are everywhere...

It's like the "In this house we believe..." signs, got totally fed up and mad.

bsky.app/profile/left...

Federal immigration agents deploy tear gas on Northwest Side streets as Chicagoans bellow, ‘Get out of our city!’ Federal immigration agents again deployed tear gas on Chicago streets Saturday morning, despite mounting scrutiny from a federal judge over their use of the chemical weapons.

Just saw via @chicagotribune.com that the guy in the Blackhawk PJ's is a 41-year-old former prosecutor who was "was drinking coffee on his couch & watching the news" before he ran out barefoot to scream “Nazis!” and “Gestapo!” at the agents. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/25/c...

A broad group of people seem to be taking bold (sometimes risky) actions. And it doesn't seem to be stopping. I wonder how it will change the overall political landscape.

YouTube video by Chicago Tribune Federal immigration agents tear gas Lakeview, raid Lincoln Park as feds focus on city’s North Side

...or this video of people getting gassed by ICE in Lincoln Park-- which any Chicagoan will tell you is not exactly an antifa enclave.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=idSE...

One striking aspect of ICE resistance in Chicago, is how many people in the videos appear to be average, everyday residents out for walks or stepping out of their houses.

Like, this guy is barefoot, in Blackhawk hockey PJs! Or...

(*I've not personally talked to the people in these videos)

Federal Judge Orders Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino, Who Fired Tear Gas at Little Village Crowd, Into Court The judge’s order came less than 24 hours after Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino fired tear gas at a crowd during an aggressive raid in Little Village.

FULL STORY: U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis ordered Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino, who has led a series of increasingly aggressive raids across Chicago and the suburbs, to appear in her courtroom in person at 10 a.m. Tuesday. @wttw.bsky.social

Stephen Miller on Fox threatens to arrest JB Pritzker for "seditious conspiracy" and says, "to all ICE officers: you have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. And anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop or obstruct you is committing a felony."

From California to Chicago, a Border Patrol boss sparks accusations of race-based arrests Gregory Bovino led aggressive immigration operations in California, leading to lawsuits questioning his agents’ tactics. The same tactics are being used in his “Operation Midway Blitz” mission in Chic...

As the brash Border Patrol boss was on the front lines in Chicago again today - amid clouds of tear gas - it's worth checking out this recent story about what Gregory Bovino left behind in his previous deployment to LA www.wbez.org/public-safet...

Immigration enforcement reaches CPS doorstep, renewing questions about student, community safety CPS confirms a landscaper detained this week was on district property. It appears to be the first time a CPS vendor or employee was picked up during the federal immigration enforcement campaign.

CPS confirms a landscaper detained this week was on district property. It appears to be the first time a @chipubschools.bsky.social vendor or employee was picked up during the federal immigration enforcement campaign. chicago.suntimes.com/education/20... by @mannycam.bsky.social

Federal agents detain Little Village high school student, deploy tear gas in faceoff with protesters Feds wearing military-style camouflage gear and gas masks were seen tear-gassing and pepper-spraying protesters during the confrontation near a discount mall.

The Sun-Times is reporting Border Patrol took at least two teenage boys today when they hit Little Village, again.

One is said to be a 16-year old student, U.S. citizen, and student at Benito Juarez Community Academy.

The ICE Protest Frogs Have a Long History of ‘Tactical Frivolity’ Behind Them “That willingness to make yourself ridiculous can be very disarming,” said a professor who has studied — and engaged in — absurd protest methods.

I love this interview with an academic (and clown!) who studies the use of "tactical frivolity" in protests.

"Play has a role in very serious movements"

www.themarshallproject.org/2025/10/22/t...

The ICE Protest Frogs Have a Long History of ‘Tactical Frivolity’ Behind Them “That willingness to make yourself ridiculous can be very disarming,” said a professor who has studied — and engaged in — absurd protest methods.

“That willingness to make yourself ridiculous can be very disarming,” said a professor who has studied — and engaged in — absurd protest methods.

Federal judge extends order blocking National Guard from Chicago The Trump administration has been given the green light by the appeals court to send the Oregon National Guard into Portland. Follow for the latest

BREAKING: Federal judge extends the order blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago.

Follow live updates.