On February 8th of this year, our friend, neighbor, and student Mamadou Balde was illegally detained and held by ICE for 16 days. He is an asylee who arrived in the United States from Guinea in 2023 and has been a valued member of our community since that time.

As immigration proceedings are considered civil, he had no choice but to hire a lawyer and incur significant legal fees to secure his release. Please stand with us and help Mamadou pay the legal fees incurred as a result of this unfair, illegal ICE detention!