Immigrant Defenders Law Center

Resources | IMMDEF Resources for immigrants from Immigrant Defenders Law Center in Los Angeles, California.

We’re here for our communities.
If your loved one has been detained by ICE in SoCal, call ImmDef’s Rapid Response Line: (213) 833-8283 (M–F, 9AM–4PM).

📲 Know your rights: www.ImmDef.org/resources
🔗 Listed by @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-07-31/know-your-rights-a-resource-guide

Visit FreeAndry.org to stay informed + contact your reps to demand justice. #JusticeForAndry

"A nightmare I thought would never end."

Andry’s release doesn’t erase the torture he & 251 Venezuelan men endured in El Salvador’s CECOT prison, where they were starved & used as political pawns in a secret prisoner exchange.

No one should EVER face torture for seeking safety -- but the Trump admin paid El Salvador to jail & torture our client Andry under the Alien Enemies Act for 125 days in CECOT. A prisoner exchange is not justice. Thank you, @robertgarcia.bsky.social, for your advocacy.

#JusticeforAndry

¡El conocimiento es poder! 📚💪 Únete a nuestro Taller de Inmigración en español con #RepresentLA y aprende cómo proteger tus derechos, las últimas actualizaciones migratorias y recursos en el sur de California.
🗓 Lunes 4 de agosto
🕕 6–7 PM PST
📍 Zoom
Regístrate: 🔗 tinyurl.com/yc5xny3t

ICE lo llama “detención civil,” pero nosotros lo llamamos cárcel de ICE. Como dijo nuestra abogada, Tracy Crowley, a @kpbssandiego.bsky.social:

“Le llaman detención civil para diferenciarla de una encarcelación,” dijo Tracy. “Pero no hay diferencia.”

📖 Investigación completa: tinyurl.com/mufpj6me

Help us free our clients, reunite them with family, & fight their case. www.immdef.org/donate

YouTube video by Immigrant Defenders Law Center ImmDef Bond Win!

Did you know? Over 70% of people in immigration detention have no criminal history.* New ICE policies make family reunification through release on bond nearly impossible, leading to needless and costly indefinite detention.

📽️: youtube.com/shorts/3vgou...

Overcrowded conditions plague Otay Mesa and other immigrant detention facilities Lawyers representing detainees at San Diego County’s Otay Mesa Detention Center say overcrowding is forcing their clients to sleep on the floors of their cells and damaging their health.

ICE calls it "civil" detention, but we call it prison. But as ImmDef’s Staff Atty Tracy Crowley told @kpbssandiego.bsky.social:

“They call it civil detention as a way to differentiate it from incarceration,” shared Staff Atty Tracy. “It’s no different.”

📖 Full Investigation: tinyurl.com/488rxcv6

Gay makeup artist tearfully reunited with family after release from notorious El Salvador prison A gay makeup artist who was deported to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador under a wartime law by the Trump administration has been reunited with his family in Venezuela.

Andry Hernandez was forcibly removed while his asylum case was still pending, without a hearing or due process.

“This is completely uncharted territory,” said Legal Services Director Melissa Shepard.

🔗 tinyurl.com/2ut3mp2u

Resources | IMMDEF Resources for immigrants from Immigrant Defenders Law Center in Los Angeles, California.

For up-to-date legal information and support for you and your loved ones, please visit immdef.org/resources.

The Sanchez family’s young child developed a high fever while detained at Dilley Detention Center, with no access to basic medical tools like a thermometer and delayed medication. No one should suffer for seeking safety and following immigration protocol.

Their letter also details verbal abuse from staff, barriers to legal help, and restricted contact with loved ones. Despite this, Adelanto still, as of July 17th, detains 1,595 people; many taken during unconstitutional raids across LA.

“We are dying and desperate for help.”
That’s the message from 85 people detained at Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where they report overcrowding, spoiled food, hours w/o clean water, & medical neglect. Some have been held for +2yrs without criminal charges.

Our communities deserve fearless defenders. We are hiring attorneys for our Children’s Representation, Community Defense, and Rapid Response teams. ✊🏼

Visit www.immdef.org/jobs to be on the right side of history fighting for dignity, due process, and immigrant justice!

El maquillador venezolano deportado de EE.UU. a El Salvador ya está de regreso en Venezuela | CNN El maquillador venezolano Andry Hernández, que fue deportado desde Estados Unidos a la famosa megaprisión de El Salvador, llegó a Venezuela el viernes, según informó su abogado.

El destino de Andry y otros deportados a CECOT sigue siendo incierto. Aunque ya no sufran tortura, tampoco es una victoria. La lucha por justicia sigue.

📖Lee más en CNN en Español:
cnnespanol.cnn.com/2025/07/19/v...

“While the Trump admini disappears human beings to countries around the world w/o due process, it will take all of us, from all over the world, to [...] prevent others from experiencing the same cruel fate,” said Ysqueibel's attorney Margaret Cargioli.

Trump sent her son to a Salvadoran mega-prison. He hasn’t been heard from since Nearly three months later, family members and lawyers still haven’t been able to speak with the men the U.S. summarily sent to El Salvador’s ‘tropical gulag,’ Josh Marcus reports

Ysqueibel has no criminal history but Trump didn't care and sent him to CECOT hell anyway. Ysqueibel's mother said, “He left Venezuela for a better future and it turned into a nightmare." Now he is reunited with family in his home country but none of this was on his terms.
🔗 tinyurl.com/2s2a6xce

After 125 Days Of Detention Without Charge, A CECOT Detainee Reunites With His Family “My son is with me again. Thank you, thank you, my god, thank you,” Ydalys Chirinos-Polanco told HuffPost.

Ysqueibel is a 25 yo loving son who worked as a gardener, refrigerator tech & Uber driver while in the US. He entered lawfully through CBP1 App. He was detained w/our client, musician Arturo Suarez, after ICE broke the door down in a home where they were filming a music video.
tinyurl.com/5fzpw62j

REUNITED, for real this time. On Friday 7/18 Ysqueibel + 251 Venezuelan men were released from CECOT & sent to VZ. That day he was allowed to hug his family but couldn't leave govt custody. Today is his first day outside some govt's custody in months. 🧵⬇️

“They were used as pawns.” The Trump administration knew what they were doing when they paid El Salvador to imprison them in a $6M political stunt, and they remain responsible for the travesty of justice that continues.

📺 MSNBC: tinyurl.com/3aue84y2

Gay asylum seeker Andry Hernández Romero remains in danger, advocates warn After months in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, the gay makeup artist has been freed, but not returned to safety.

Andry Hernández Romero is out of CECOT, but far from safe. Deported by the Trump admin without a hearing, he was held 125 days in a torture prison before being sent back to Venezuela, where he fled anti-LGBTQ+ violence.
His life remains at risk.

🔗Read more from @advocate.com: tinyurl.com/37k9ps5z

Our client Arturo was released in a U.S.-brokered prisoner swap and deported to Venezuela, where he still faces serious risks. He endured daily beatings during 125 days held incommunicado at El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.

🔗 Read more: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Our client Ysqueibel is reunited with his family. They have fought alongside us tirelessly for his release. Tonight they are finally together after Ysqueibel, a 25-year old young man, was imprisoned for four months in El Salvador's CECOT and released to Venezuela.

In light of govt's claims about its deal with Venezuela, @ACLU asks Judge Boasberg to order govt to state whether it will "bring members of the class [of Venezuelans sent to CECOT under Alien Enemies Act] back to the US" for the legal process they were previously denied.

ImmDef confirms that on 7/18/25 Andry Hernández Romero & 250+ Venezuelan men -- who were denied due process and were disappeared by the U.S. govt to El Salvador’s maximum-security CECOT prison on 3/15/25 -- were released from CECOT & sent to Venezuela.
Our statement: www.immdef.org/blog/andryre...

El Salvador to send detained Venezuelans to Caracas in prison swap for Americans, sources say El Salvador's government will send detained Venezuelans to Caracas in exchange for Americans held in Venezuela, two U.S. government officials told Reuters on Friday.

No matter what comes next, the facts remain: they were disappeared without due process by the U.S. government.

🔗 www.reuters.com/world/americ...

#BRINGTHEMBACK After 125 days of torture, media reports of a potential prisoner swap may mean that our clients Andry, Maikel, Arturo, Ysqueibel, Miguel, Pedro, & Edwin are finally freed from CECOT. We are following reports closely and in contact with their families.

⚠️Si su ser querido o un miembro de su comunidad ha sido detenido por Inmigración en el Sur de California, llame a la Línea Legal de Respuesta Rápida de ImmDef al (213) 833-8283.

5) Si ICE te detiene en tu carro: