Dave Pierre has just been released after three years in immigration detention. Pierre is an immigrant from Antigua who first came to the United States when he was two years old. In 2009 he went to pay a traffic fine and was arrested for illegally entering the country. He was first sent to prison and then placed in immigrant detention, where he spent the next three years seeking his release and fighting his deportation. He wrote letters to anyone who would listen — including Democracy Now! — documenting the 1,144 days he spent in detention centers and county jails from Alabama to Pennsylvania. On October 25, just two weeks ago, Pierre was suddenly told he was free to go. This came after a fellow immigrant from Antigua, 35-year-old Tiombe Carlos, committed suicide at the York County Jail in Pennsylvania, where they were both being held along with about 900 other immigrants.

Immigrants Mass Incarceration