[STATEMENT] Release Lewelyn! Release Alma! Hands off Immigrant and Migrant Workers and Students in the US!
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IMA Global Statement on Trump’s attacks against Immigrant and Migrant Workers and Students in the United States
1st April 2025
The International Migrants Alliance demands the immediate release of Lewelyn Dixon, Alma Bowman and all immigrants and migrants who have been unjustly detained by ICE. We oppose the persecution of Chung, Khalil, Ozturk and other migrant students exercising their First Amendment rights to support the people of Palestine. We call for the immediate end to all anti-migrant policies and the release of unjustly detained migrants, refugees and displaced peoples.
Lewelyn Dixon, has been detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), despite having lived in the US for over 50 years. Alma Bowman, who has lived in the US for 48 years, has also been unjustly detained by ICE. University students Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung and Rumeysa Ozturk are also being detained and persecuted by ICE for supporting Palestine.
Under Trump’s leadership, all migrants–regardless of legal status–are under attack, and immigration enforcement has become a weapon of repression. From the detention of individuals to the mass deportation of hundreds under the Alien Enemies Act, these actions are clear attempts to criminalise migration and scapegoat migrants. The administration’s move to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands, detain children without legal aid, and subject immigrants to expedited removals without hearings exposes a deep disregard for human rights and due process.
Trump has also secured an agreement with fascist President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador to detain thousands of migrants facing deportation in that country’s prison facilities, instead of providing the due process rights of migrants to defend themselves and challenge their deportation within US boundaries. This international extension of the US detention and deportation system, like the Guantanamo Bay prison, keeps migrants even farther away from family, community, and legal resources they need and exposes them to even more isolation and physical and mental abuse in those countries.
The ongoing global economic and political crises largely caused and driven by US Imperialism have only worsened conditions for migrants. Poverty, joblessness, landlessness, and political repression drive millions to seek opportunities abroad. The global economy continues to be battered by inflation, debt crises and the rising cost of living, disproportionately affecting underdeveloped nations. Governments’ subservience to neoliberal dictates have led to economic stagnation, forcing thousands to migrate daily in search of livelihood despite exploitative conditions abroad. Economic collapse, political instability, and militarised repression have displaced millions, fueling the ongoing exodus of migrants toward the US.
Meanwhile, capitalist countries such as the US are also facing their own internal crises. The Trump administration and right-wing forces have intensified anti-migrant rhetoric and policies, using migrants as scapegoats for the failures of capitalism. They enforce mass deportations, criminalisation and militarised border control to distract from their inability to resolve worsening economic and social inequalities. The fight for migrants' rights is inseparable from the fight against the unjust economic and political system that forces millions to migrate towards exploitative conditions.
The IMA strongly condemns the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown on migrants resulting in mass arrests, unjust deportations, and widespread human rights violations. We support grassroots organisations, legal advocates, and support networks continue to resist and mobilise to challenge these anti-migrant policies.These aggressive policies—marked by unlawful detentions, family separations and the denial of due process—have deepened the suffering of migrants and refugees seeking safety and stability which the US imperialists have stripped them of in their home countries.
