Category: Organizing Updates

Organizing Updates

BREAKING NEWS! Marisela Andrade de Zarate’s court date delayed.

BREAKING NEWS!

Marisela's court date has been delayed until January 2029. Yes - 2029!

Stay tuned for further information.

Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking survivor Marisela Andrade de Zarate survived 15 years in state prison and 20 months in ICE detention before being released on bond to return to her family and community in California. She completed her state parole in Dec. 2024 after meeting all conditions. Marisela has been working, living in her own home, attending school, and actively participating with and contributing to her church and community groups for the two and a half years she has been back in California. Marisela is a long-term, lawful permanent resident (LPR) of the U.S. In spite of the real danger of violence and death if returned to Mexico, the government continues to pursue deportation.  This is Marisela’s APPEAL on her Asylum Application.

For more information reach out to –  info@womenprisoners.org

Organizing Updates

CURB STATEMENT ON PASSAGE OF AB 137

NEWSOM AND LAWMAKERS TAKE KEY STEP TO PROTECT CALIFORNIA FROM ICE

SACRAMENTO—Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) today released the following statement in response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s signing Assembly Bill 137:

“We thank Governor Newsom for his leadership in swiftly signing AB 137, and we applaud the Legislature for working diligently and decisively to meet the urgency of this moment. This bill reflects the kind of principled, proactive governance Californians expect. Gov. Newsom’s decision to sign it sends a clear message that our state will not be complicit in federal detention expansion.

“AB 137 gives California new tools to prevent ICE from taking over closed state prison sites––including the ability to sell, lease, or dispose of properties once CDCR declares them excess to state needs, to begin leasing immediately, and to prohibit any future carceral or detention use.

“This is a strong first step. Now we urge the Governor to use this authority without delay, starting with Chuckawalla Valley State Prison (CVSP), which closed in 2024 and is already being eyed for ICE use.

“California has spent more than $300 million maintaining mothballed prisons, even as we face a $28 billion structural budget deficit. The Legislative Analyst’s Office has urged further closures. Immediately placing former prison sites like CVSP into the AB 137 process would reduce costs while locking out ICE.

“We also urge the Governor and state leaders to stay vigilant as ICE targets other sites, including federal facilities like FCI Dublin and formerly leased state prisons like California City Correctional Facility. AB 137 shows what California can do when action is necessary, but it will take sustained leadership to ensure that no facility in this state, under any jurisdiction, is reopened to cage our neighbors and loved ones.”

Organizing Updates, Uncategorized

I helped care for FCI Dublin victims. Trump’s plan to reopen the prison for ICE is horrifying

By Douglas Yoshida

June 12, 2025

As the child of Japanese Americans who were detained for years by the U.S. government, I have witnessed the violent suppression of protests in Los Angeles against Immigration and Customs Enforcement with shock and anger. ICE’s brutal tactics, separation of families and demonizing rhetoric are reflective of a system that is fundamentally flawed and inhumane. That’s why people in California have been organizing for decades to get ICE out of our communities — and are currently filling the streets in protest.

Here in the Bay Area, there’s one disturbing Trump administration plan in particular worth fighting: making sure the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin — a former Bureau of Prisons facility — does not reopen as an ICE detention center.

In April of 2024, FCI Dublin closed amidst rampant abuse. From 2019 to 2021, at least eight employees at the prison, including the former warden and chaplain, were charged with sexual misconduct. Seven of the employees were found guilty and an eighth will go to trial this fall. In many instances, noncitizens incarcerated at the prison were specifically targeted for abuse by staff, who threatened to turn them over to ICE or made false promises that they could help them stay in the United States in exchange for sexual acts.

Read the full article from the SF Chronicle here.