Outrage Can’t Stop at the Border. It Must Reach the Prison Gates, Too.
Why Do Immigrants Get Outrage, but Inmates Get Ignored?
We have all seen the headlines, and people across the country have spoken out against ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Protest signs say, “Abolish ICE” and “No Human is Illegal.” The outrage is loud, and it should be. We have seen fear spread in communities, families separated, and people locked up without proper legal help. While not everyone in ICE custody is innocent, many have not committed crimes, and that does not change the fact that people in those facilities deserve fair treatment and due process, which is supposed to be a basic right in this country.
Let’s be clear: I am not defending ICE, that system is wrong, but why don’t we care the same way about the people in prisons going through the same thing? Many innocent people are sitting in prison.
Why Don’t We Get the Same Outrage for Them?
We show compassion for ICE detainees because they are victims of a broken system, but many people in U.S. prisons are also victims of that same broken system. They’re also living in terrible conditions. Some are still awaiting trial, others couldn’t afford bail, or were arrested for minor, nonviolent crimes, and some did not commit any wrongdoing at all. They are stuck in the same nightmare—locked up without help, surrounded by violence, forgotten by the outside world. They do not get proper medical care, mental health support, or even clean-living spaces, but no one is posting about them. No protests, no national attention, just silence.
Alligator Alcatraz is the nickname for a facility in the U.S. that sounds more like a Netflix thriller than real life, right? But it’s real. People are packed inside cages, bug-infested, with limited access to showers and inadequate food. To make things worse, the state doesn’t even want to call it a correctional facility, but if it looks like a prison, feels like a prison, and treats people like they’re disposable—it’s a prison. Many of the people inside Alligator Alcatraz haven’t been convicted of a crime. They’re just waiting, waiting for a court date, waiting for help, waiting for someone to care.
So why is there a double standard? People are more comfortable supporting immigrants in ICE custody than prisoners in the U.S. Why? Because we’ve been taught that immigrants are victims, and people in prison are criminals. But that’s not always true. Not everyone in ICE is innocent, and not everyone in prison is guilty. If we truly care about human rights—if we care about people being treated fairly—we can’t pick and choose who gets our attention. Justice isn’t just for those who seem easy to defend.
Justice isn’t a trend you can post about only when it’s popular.
It’s not something you only give to people whom you think are “good” or “deserving.” It must be for everyone.
That means the teen who got arrested because they couldn’t pay bail.
The mom who got locked up for a non-violent charge.
The man in prison is waiting for a trial that keeps getting pushed back.
If you care about human rights, you must care about all the cages, not just the ones that make headlines. Keep fighting for the people in ICE detention. But don’t forget about the innocent trapped in our prison system, living through the same abuse and fear. They deserve our voices, too.
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