Kent County I-BOND Fund
Donation protected
Please help us provide funds to free our detained immigrant neighbors in Kent County, Michigan!
I-BOND (Immigrant Bond for Our Neighbors’ Defense) is a revolving immigrant bond fund for people in Kent County facing detention on immigration-related charges. Immigration-related bonds are usually set at $5,000 or more. Raising this much money is often extremely difficult or impossible for a detained person or their family, especially if the detained person loses wages or loses their job while behind bars. The aim of this community-supported bond fund is to pay partial or full amounts of the bond needed so that immigrants can return to their homes and be with their families.
We believe that all of our immigrant neighbors are welcome and important in our community and that ICE detentions and deportations are an affront to human dignity. This fund is a way for us to take a stand against injustice and to have our neighbors’ backs. We want immigrant members of our community to have the greatest chance to stay here and to be free. It's extremely difficult for immigrants to find representation from behind bars. Immigrants who are released from detention are five times more likely to find a lawyer than immigrants who are detained, and immigrants with legal counsel are twice as likely to win their cases as those without counsel.
68% of immigrants granted bond are found *not* to be legally deportable. Yet those without funds to pay a bond find this out only after a lengthy jail stay while their lives are disrupted and their families suffer.
A large percentage of immigrants held in detention have committed no crime other than being underdocumented in the U.S. Even those with a so-called criminal record often have old, minor, non-violent offenses such as driving without a license—and the laws in Michigan can make obtaining a license impossible.
ICE detention centers have become notorious for their unacceptable conditions, including overcrowding, insufficient or unsafe food, lack of proper medical treatment, and the use of solitary confinement. They charge exorbitant prices for phone use and basic items like soap, burdening families who may have already lost income.
We hope you can join us in resisting these violent carceral structures and supporting our neighbors.
Further Resources:
How America's Bond System Keeps Immigrants Behind Bars - Vice
Detention Watch Network
ACLU on Immigrant Rights and Detention
Human Rights First on Immigrant Detention
US: Detention Hazardous to Immigrants’ Health - Human Rights Watch
I-BOND (Immigrant Bond for Our Neighbors’ Defense) is a revolving immigrant bond fund for people in Kent County facing detention on immigration-related charges. Immigration-related bonds are usually set at $5,000 or more. Raising this much money is often extremely difficult or impossible for a detained person or their family, especially if the detained person loses wages or loses their job while behind bars. The aim of this community-supported bond fund is to pay partial or full amounts of the bond needed so that immigrants can return to their homes and be with their families.
We believe that all of our immigrant neighbors are welcome and important in our community and that ICE detentions and deportations are an affront to human dignity. This fund is a way for us to take a stand against injustice and to have our neighbors’ backs. We want immigrant members of our community to have the greatest chance to stay here and to be free. It's extremely difficult for immigrants to find representation from behind bars. Immigrants who are released from detention are five times more likely to find a lawyer than immigrants who are detained, and immigrants with legal counsel are twice as likely to win their cases as those without counsel.
68% of immigrants granted bond are found *not* to be legally deportable. Yet those without funds to pay a bond find this out only after a lengthy jail stay while their lives are disrupted and their families suffer.
A large percentage of immigrants held in detention have committed no crime other than being underdocumented in the U.S. Even those with a so-called criminal record often have old, minor, non-violent offenses such as driving without a license—and the laws in Michigan can make obtaining a license impossible.
ICE detention centers have become notorious for their unacceptable conditions, including overcrowding, insufficient or unsafe food, lack of proper medical treatment, and the use of solitary confinement. They charge exorbitant prices for phone use and basic items like soap, burdening families who may have already lost income.
We hope you can join us in resisting these violent carceral structures and supporting our neighbors.
Further Resources:
How America's Bond System Keeps Immigrants Behind Bars - Vice
Detention Watch Network
ACLU on Immigrant Rights and Detention
Human Rights First on Immigrant Detention
US: Detention Hazardous to Immigrants’ Health - Human Rights Watch
Fundraising team: Kent County I-Bond Fund (5)
JR Em
Organiser
Grand Rapids, MI
Jeff Smith
Beneficiary
JR Martin
Team member
Ames Carpenter
Team member
Aaminah Shakur
Team member
Westlin Sullivan
Team member