USA: #AbolishICE protests continue

The USA’s already inadequate and inhumane immigration procedures, deliberately made more barbaric under President Trump, were brought to an almost complete standstill by the pandemic, with the processing of visas, benefits and immigration court hearings all heavily affected. Barriers rose for both legal and undocumented migrants. Entry through the country’s land borders was severely restricted even for asylum seekers and unaccompanied children, and although they reduced in number, immigration raids did not stop. Tens of thousands of people remained in crowded detention centres run by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, leaving them highly vulnerable to COVID-19 contagion. Millions of migrant families were excluded from emergency support schemes and struggled to stay afloat.

Throughout the year, reports repeatedly surfaced of the horrific conditions experienced by migrants in ICE detention centres.  As Black Lives Matter protests mobilised in great numbers in the USA and around the world, people also rose in protest against these appalling conditions.