More Immigrant Stories from Breakthrough

Breakthrough has posted two new videos that this blog’s readers might find of interest:

Juana Villegas—A Pregnant Woman Detained

Juana Villegas from Mexico, was nine months pregnant when she was stopped for careless driving, for which she was later found innocent. Because of an agreement between local police and federal immigration authorities, she was detained in jail where she was shackled. Juana remained shackled in transit to the hospital and while giving birth. She was not allowed to use a breast pump or nurse her newborn child.

Ali:  An HIV+ Man Suffers in Detention

Ali, a Pakistani-born, HIV+ gay man, living in New York City for 30 years with a green card; after serving a brief term in jail for a minor crime, he was immediately turned over to immigration authorities and spent more than a year in detention where he witnessed the worst kind of physical abuse and medical mistreatment, including constantly fighting to get his HIV medication which he needed to survive and often being given the wrong medications or doses.