somos fronterizxs
Fianza Fund & Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee, Fall 2018
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The Fronterizx Fianza Fund was created in January 2018 by members of the Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee in El Paso-Ciudad Juárez. There are four massive ICE detention centers in Far West Texas and New Mexico, and we saw numerous people stuck indefinitely in all of them simply because they couldn't pay bonds. We saw people signing their own deportations our of despair and families being ripped off by for-profit bail bond companies. Detained compañerxs themselves shared their ideas for a solidarity fund, and we started the Fianza Fund by simply pooling together a few thousand dollars through colectas and dance parties.
The Fianza Fund is made up of a steering committee and compañerxs from around El Paso, Ciudad Juárez, and New Mexico. We are all-volunteer and an active member of the National Bail Fund Network. In 2019, we became a fiscally-sponsored project of the Tucson-based 501(c)(3) Alliance for Global Justice. |
Year 1: fighting for freedom amidst the admin's manufactured chaos
In our first year, we posted 54 fianzas. We also collaborated with families and other organizations to help coordinate over a dozen more bond postings, paid for post-release transportation for numerous individuals, and deposited hundreds of dollars into commissary and phone accounts for people still in detention.
In our first year:
In our first year:
- We helped 8 local families (New Mexico-West Texas) bond out loved ones.
- We paid bonds for 10 people who were separated from their kids or grandkids at the border.
- 29% of compañerxs we helped bond out were LGBTQ, including 9 people jailed in the Cibola 'trans pod.'
- The average amount of bonds we paid was $5,615
Jocelyn and James advocating for migrant families in Washington, DC
People who we've bonded out are pursuing their asylum or cancellation of deportation cases and have accomplished amazing things! Kenia left detention in El Paso in October, is excelling in English classes, and has volunteered at shelters housing recently-arrived migrants. Alberto, a 19-year-old detained in a workplace raid, has been supporting his family and an active member of the Workers Defense Project in Austin since June.
Some of the compañerxs we've bonded out are involved in lawsuits challenging human rights violations in detention and at the border. One example: Jocelyn was one of the first mothers we met who had been separated from her child by Border Patrol during the 'zero-tolerance pilot program' in 2017. We paid her $3000 bond and she fought for months to get her son back. She joined a federal lawsuit as a lead plaintiff, which resulted in the reunification of thousands of families. Jocelyn and her son James became nationally-recognized voices against family separation and detention!
Some of the compañerxs we've bonded out are involved in lawsuits challenging human rights violations in detention and at the border. One example: Jocelyn was one of the first mothers we met who had been separated from her child by Border Patrol during the 'zero-tolerance pilot program' in 2017. We paid her $3000 bond and she fought for months to get her son back. She joined a federal lawsuit as a lead plaintiff, which resulted in the reunification of thousands of families. Jocelyn and her son James became nationally-recognized voices against family separation and detention!