VS: Ongedocumenteerde activisten die zich laten opsluiten in deportatiegevangenissen om daar te organiseren (video)

An immigrant rights activist has been detained in Florida just weeks after he appeared in an acclaimed film at the Sundance Film Festival about activists infiltrating and exposing for-profit immigrant detention jails. Claudio Rojas was apprehended Wednesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after an annual check-in. He’s now being held at the Krome Detention Center, where he faces immediate deportation. His lawyer says his arrest is linked to the film featuring his activism. It’s called The Infiltrators. The gripping hybrid documentary-dramatic feature was a smash success at Sundance, will play at the Miami Film Festival Tuesday. But Claudio Rojas will not be there to see it. Attorney Sandy Pineda told The Washington Post, quote, “I definitely think it’s retaliation. For them to take this stance and to just arrest him so suddenly for no apparent reason, it’s very unusual”, she said. The Infiltrators is based on the incredible true story of undocumented immigrants who purposefully got themselves arrested by federal authorities in order to infiltrate the Broward Transitional Center in Florida and organize the prisoners within its walls. Claudio Rojas worked with the activists on the inside. A father of two with no criminal record, he spent seven months at Broward in 2012, after he was detained by ICE officials outside his Florida home. The scene was portrayed in The Infiltrators. It begins with a lawn care worker in Broward County, Florida.

Amy Goodman in video in The Infiltrators: How Undocumented Activists Snuck Into Immigration Jail to Fight Deportations (Democracynow.org)