Tag: Immigration
BW Recommends | April 26, 2026
BW Recommends | April 19, 2026
Sewell Calls for ICE Reform but Rejects Funding Standoff
The U.S. representative spoke with constituents during a Tele-Town Hall on Tuesday.
Local Politics Can Make National Change, Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Says at Birmingham Town Hall
Pete Buttigieg and Mayor Randall Woodfin answered questions during a town hall at the Carver Theatre.
BW Recommends | Feb. 15, 2026
The Many Problems With Media Coverage of Protests
The organizer of a local protest asked the big newspaper in town if it planned to cover the event. The answer was no. The organizer paused. “Then maybe we won’t do it.”
Advocacy Group Helps Mexican Families in Alabama Reunite After Decades Apart
Some Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. hadn’t seen their parents for decades. An advocacy group in Alabama is working with Mexican officials to reunite dozens of families in time for the holidays. Read more.
ICE Withdrawing Detainees From Etowah County Detention Center, Cites ‘Serious Deficiencies’
U.S. immigration officials announced Friday that they would stop using the Etowah County Detention Center, in Gadsden, to house detainees.
The decision was based on the jail having “serious deficiencies,” according to a press release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Etowah County Detention Center, which houses the county’s jail and the federal detention area, has come under a litany of complaints for decades. The complaints have included physical conditions at the jail, improper actions by personnel and inadequate health care.
Etowah County Sheriff Jonathon Horton told the Gadsden Times that the news came as a shock to him. “It was just a bombshell,” Horton told the Times. He also said ICE just this week notified him it would be sending 135 more detainees to the jail.
The detention center, where the county has its jail as well as the federal detention area, has come under a litany of complaints for decades. The complaints have included physical conditions at the jail, improper actions by personnel and inadequate health care. Read more.
BirminghamWatch’s Virginia MacDonald explored complaints about the Etowah County Detention Center in this 2019 report:
Alabama Site for Detained Immigrants Has History of Abuse Charges, Efforts to Close It.
Birmingham Council OK’s Agreement With ICE, Disturbing Advocacy Groups
The Birmingham City Council has approved an agreement between the city’s police department and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement that would deputize several BPD officers as customs officers for ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations jurisdiction.
The agreement was approved unanimously despite tense opposition from several advocacy groups worried that it could lead to more deportations in the city and give ICE too much power.
The agreement — a continuation of a previous 3-year deal — went before the council Nov. 2 but was delayed due to councilors’ concerns that it would require the police officers involved to participate in the deportation and removal of undocumented Birmingham residents. Read more.
Birmingham Delays ICE Agreement, Wants to Assure It Won’t Lead to Police Involvement in Deportations
The Birmingham City Council has delayed approval of an agreement with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement that would appoint several city police officers as customs officers for ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations jurisdiction.
The 3-year deal would provide for the continuation of a previously established task force that District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams said is focused on “combating both human trafficking and large-scale narcotics operations in the city of Birmingham.”
Mayor Randall Woodfin asserted that the agreement would not result in deportations or administrative removal of any undocumented Birmingham residents.
“I have stated on a pretty consistent basis that the city of Birmingham does not have any interest in doing the federal government’s job, but there’s something more powerful than words, and that’s, like, your actions,” Woodfin said. “We’re not here to do the job of deportation.”
But the association with ICE — and the unclear wording of the ordinance — left both advocates and councilors dubious of the proposal. Read more.
