URGENT: This Black Muslim dad is facing deportation and we *must* act now, Indiana.

We need to support Shiekh and his family while he fights deportation.

As salaamu alaykum, Indiana—

This could not be more urgent, so I'm just going to dive in:

Shiekh Nyang, a Black Muslim father, husband, and son, could be taken by ICE any day now and deported to Gambia, despite calling the U.S. his home since he was just 4 years old.

Shiekh is being legally barred from working to support his family, including his own father who is battling cancer. And to top it all off, Shiekh and his family have just been evicted from their home.

We're helping raise money as urgently as we can to support Shiekh and his family who are being put in immense risk by ICE's deportation machine.

Please give what you can right now to help him raise funds for legal support and to support his family's livelihood in this difficult moment, Indiana.

We know the U.S. immigration, carceral, and healthcare systems are brutally racist, anti-Black, and Islamophobic.¹  Shiekh and his family are paying the price for all of those systemic crises at once.

This is the short version of Shiekh's story:

Shiekh Nyang is a devoted husband, father, son, and Muslim. He is 31 years old and lives with his wife and family in Atlanta, Georgia. His twelve-year-old son just began middle school. 

Shiekh has been made to go through immigration proceedings since the age of nine years old. 

Recently, Shiekh was falsely told by his lawyer that any outstanding legal issues around him moving with his family as a child had finally been resolved. But that lawyer withheld crucial information from Shiekh and his family, including not even informing them of a critical immigration court date Shiekh needed to attend. 

As a result, Shiekh spent four years imprisoned alone, away from his family, in what was probably the most horrific and infamous detention center in the US: Etowah.²

Click here to support Shiekh as he fights his legal battle against ICE so he can remain in Atlanta—the only home he's ever known.

At Etowah, Shiekh was separated from his family, denied due process, and made to endure the unimaginable. The conditions at Etowah became so infamous that, in the time since Shiekh got out of Etowah, it has since been forced to close.³ 

Shiekh could be deported any day now. In the meantime, he's not being legally authorized to work in the United States, his home since he was just 4 years old. 

While all of this has been going on, Shiekh's father has been battling cancer and his mother's health has deteriorated under the severe stress of her son's uncertain immigration situation. 

This fundraiser isn't just to ensure his family gets housing; it isn't just to take care of his family while Shiekh petitions to be allowed to work again; it's also to raise money for all the legal expenses needed to ensure ICE does not deport Shiekh.

This is an urgent moment for us to come together. Let's #KeepShiekhHome.

We know that Shiekh's story isn't unique. 

So many people like him have been targeted & dehumanized by a system built on anti-Black Islamophobia, designed to incarcerate, harm, and separate our communities.

You know this as well if you've been with us through all our #FreeThemAll campaigns. Together, we've helped reunite multiple people with their families, helping to ensure their freedom from Etowah and other prisons.

That's why we won't stop until we do everything we can to ensure Shiekh and his family are forever safe from the horrors of the ICE deportation machine. No one should have to go through this. 

Join us in the fight to #KeepSheikhHome by taking a minute to give generously to Shiekh and his family..

Thank you for showing up with us.

In solidarity,

Linda, Lau, Ishraq and the MPower Change team

P.S. Can't give right now? Then take this opportunity to share the fundraising link for Shiekh and his family on social media or email.

Sources:

1. ""Ousman Darboe could be deported any day. His story is a common one for black immigrants," Vox, Sep 30, 2019.

2. "PHYSICAL ABUSE AT ETOWAH," Freedom For Immigrants.

3. ""Burials Are Cheaper Than Deportations": Virus Unleashes Terror in a Troubled ICE Detention Center," The Intercept, Apr 12, 2020.

MPower Change is a grassroots movement of diverse Muslim communities working together to build social, spiritual, racial, and economic justice for all people. Support our work.

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