Day of the Dead is a celebration that has its roots in Indigenous cultures;
according to a scholar, these Mesoamerican feasts were hidden within the feasts of All Saints Day and All Souls Day by Indigenous peoples as a subversive act of resistance. Each year in November, festivities take place to commemorate the return to Earth of deceased relatives and loved ones.

As an organization focusing on immigrants, it is important to uplift the fact that over 200 loved ones have died in ICE's immigration detention system since advocates began tracking the deaths in 2003. People are losing their lives to a detention system that simply does not need to exist. Detention centers represent abuse, trauma, and sometimes death. Medical standards developed and implemented by ICE have proven inadequate time and again leading to preventable deaths of people in their custody.


People must be released immediately and detention centers need to be shut
down now. This tragic loss of life will continue to happen as long as detention
exists -- Biden must act urgently to release people from ICE custody.