Juneteenth Is a Celebration of Freedom, But Not for Everyone
Juneteenth is supposed to be a celebration of freedom. But for far too many in this country, that freedom is still conditional, especially if you’re a Black immigrant. Double punishment of Black immigrants is a reality too often ignored.
Every year, thousands of individuals complete their prison sentences and prepare to reunite with their families. They’ve served their time, paid their debt, and are ready to return to their communities. But for many, that long-awaited moment of release is stolen.
Instead of being welcomed home, they are met by ICE.
ICE Arrests at the Prison Gate: When Freedom Is Denied
This isn’t hypothetical. Nationally, about 70 percent of ICE arrests happen as direct transfers from prisons and jails. In California alone, that’s more than 1,500 people per year.
These individuals are handed off from one cage to another, without ever experiencing what it means to be free. This is where the double punishment of Black immigrants becomes painfully clear: first punished by the criminal legal system, then again by immigration enforcement. It’s unjust. And it’s racially driven.
The numbers tell the story:
- Black immigrants make up only 7 percent of non-citizens in the U.S.
- Yet they represent 20 percent of those facing deportation on criminal grounds
This isn’t a coincidence. The same over-policing, profiling, and sentencing disparities that plague the criminal legal system are also embedded in the immigration system. These injustices are not erased at the border; they are imported and amplified.
Double punishment of Black immigrants exists at the intersection of race, immigration status, and systemic injustice.
This is not justice. This is a continuation of a long legacy of state control over Black and brown bodies.
The Legal Gap: Where Immigration and Criminal Law Collide
Let’s stop pretending these are separate systems. The criminal legal system and the immigration enforcement system are intertwined by design.
In the United States, immigration and criminal law intersect through a concept called crimmigration—a legal framework that allows non-citizens to face deportation due to criminal convictions, no matter how minor. The double punishment of Black immigrants intensifies under this system because they are already more likely to be targeted by law enforcement.
According to the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), Black immigrants face longer detention times and higher bond rates than others. Without proper legal defense and public awareness, these overlapping systems continue to harm those already most vulnerable.
Until we confront this reality:
- Families will continue to be separated
- Lives will continue to be derailed
- Justice will remain out of reach for the most marginalized among us
What Does Freedom Really Mean?
On a day like Juneteenth, which is meant to honor the end of slavery, we must take a hard look at the systems that still deny true freedom.
- What does it mean to be free if your immigration status can strip away your rights after you’ve already served your sentence?
- What does it mean to celebrate emancipation when immigrant detention centers are filled with Black and brown men and women who were never allowed to fully re-enter society?
The double punishment of Black immigrants robs people of any real chance at restoration.
This Juneteenth, Tell the Truth and Fight for Justice
This Juneteenth, I’m not just thinking about history. I’m thinking about:
- Every client whose freedom was revoked at the gate
- Every family waiting outside for a loved one who never came out
- Every person who thought they were going home, only to be transferred instead
We can do better. We must do better.
And it starts by telling the truth and fighting for justice for all.
We fight for the freedom our clients were promised but never fully given. If your story or your loved one’s feels like it ended at the prison gate, it doesn’t have to.
📞 Call us today at 630-504-0648 or schedule a confidential consultation with Attorney Farrah.
Juneteenth reminds us that freedom must be defended. Let us help you defend yours.
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