Members of Comunidad Collectiva protest 287(g), the controversial section of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act that allows local law enforcement to collaborate with ICE.

Stefania Arteaga, Co-founder of Comunidad Colectiva and the Carolina Migrant Network talks with The Kicker host Stephanie Carson about issues facing North Carolina’s immigrant population, specifically the impact that policy changes by the Trump administration have had on North Carolina’s undocumented workers.

Comunidad Colectiva was recently featured in the Netflix docuseries, Immigration Nation, released in August of 2020.

Comunidad Colectiva is a Charlotte-based immigrant rights organization. The filmmakers followed organizers during the successful 2018 campaign to end 287(g) in Mecklenburg County and the ICE retaliation that followed in 2019.

Although the docuseries features the successful campaign to end the 287(g) program in Mecklenburg County, they say sheriffs and ICE retaliated against these wins by pushing for statewide ICE enforcement collaboration. When that failed, additional sheriffs decided to enter into 287(g) partnerships called Warrant Service Officer Programs a model piloted in Florida in 2019.

They say their fight against ICE in North Carolina is not over. Comunidad Colectiva and the Carolina Migrant Network continue to fight ICE enforcement and provide pro-bono bond representation to immigrants detained by ICE in the Carolinas.

About The Kicker

The Kicker is a production of Carolina Public Press. Send an email to thekicker@carolinapublicpress.org if you would like to contact the staff of Carolina Public Press about The Kicker.

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Stephanie Carson is the former news and community partnerships manager at Carolina Public Press.

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