The Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee is an immigration-focused activism organization based in El Paso, Texas. It provides assistance and advocacy for illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers. The group has gained a heightened profile amid disputes over conditions at immigration detention facilities. The organization provides funds to provide bail, legal services, translation, and other types of support to detained undocumented immigrants, especially in cases where they have been separated from family members. ¹

Critics of such organizations note that the existence of such groups provide a false sense of comfort and draw immigrants into thinking that they will earn refugee status or asylum in the United States, despite a low likelihood of obtaining such status. ²

Background

The Detained Migrant Solidarity committee is led by a group of roughly eight migrants and focuses on advocacy efforts around immigration, specifically freeing detained immigrants who illegally cross the United States-Mexico border. The group operates in the El Paso area, where several migrant detention facilities have garnered national attention. The group provides a long list of services to detained and formerly detained immigrants including legal services, bail payments, clothes, temporary housing, and reading materials. ³

The group announced its formation in early 2017, claiming to be a collection of activists, religious leaders, and family members of immigrant detainees. The group has membership meetings monthly in El Paso. ⁴

According to reports, left-wing activists from across the United States have descended on El Paso to take part in protests sponsored by the Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee, including Black Lives Matter activists from Ferguson, Missouri. ⁵

Programs

The Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee has published reports concerning the conditions of detention facilities near El Paso and hosted several protests over conditions and practices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The most notable of the organization’s programs however is the Fronterizo Fianza Fund, which provides support in paying bonds for detained immigrants at several detention facilities in the near the US-Mexico border. The Fianza Fund is a member of the National Bail Fund Network. ⁶

1. “About us”. Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://dmscelpaso.wixsite.com/dmscelpaso/copy-of-about-us
2. Ludwig, Hayden. “Immigrant Advocates Push Fake Humanitarianism at the Border”. Capital Research Center. March 20, 2019. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/immigrant-advocates-push-fake-humanitarianism-at-the-border/
3. Rozensky, Joshua. ” Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee Awarded the RFK Human Rights Award”. El Paso Herald Post. June 3, 2019 https://elpasoheraldpost.com/detained-migrant-solidarity-committee-awarded-the-robert-f-kennedy-human-rights-award/
4. Clarke, Marcel. “Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee fights for change” KFox14. January 17, 2017. https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/detained-migrant-solidarity-committee-fights-for-change
5. Hidalgo, Carolina. “St. Louis Activists Help Build Protest Movement For Immigrant Rights In Southwest Texas”. April 12, 2019. https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/st-louis-activists-help-build-protest-movement-immigrant-rights-southwest-texas#stream/0
6. “About the Fund”. Fianza Fund. https://www.fianzafund.org/about-the-fund.html