Maria Muentes

Maria Muentes is a co-founder of the immigrant rights organization Families for Freedom (FFF). She has worked at various organizations throughout New York City that work toward social and economic justice for low-income people of color. FFF is a New York-based multi-ethnic defense network by and for immigrants facing and fighting deportation. FFF comprises current and former immigrant prisoners (detainees), their loved ones, and individuals at risk of deportation.

Inside Immigrant Prisons

More than 360 jails, prisons, and detention centers were in use by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement between 2007 and 2009. Map courtesy of the Global Detention Project. Another interactive detention map is available at Detention Watch Network.

Recently, the Donald Wyatt Center in Rhode Island lost its contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house 153 immigrant prisoners after the horrific death of a detainee. Center representatives publicly bemoaned the loss of $100,000 per week and quickly began looking for a way to get more prisoners. The chairman of the board for the center, Daniel Cooney, said, “Frankly, I’m looking at it like I’m running a Motel 6. I don’t care if it’s Guantanamo Bay. We want to fill the beds.”  He was eventually fired in the fallout from this remark, but his candor is revealing.