Shackled

A rare look at the brute-force mechanics of deportation in the United States. In December 2017, U.S. immigration authorities shackled and abused 92 African refugees for two days while attempting to deport them by plane to Somalia. When national media broke the story, government officials lied about what happened. Shackled tells the story of this harrowing failed deportation, the resulting class action litigation, and two mens search for safety in the United States over the course of three long years. Through Abdulahis and Saids firsthand accounts, immigration lawyer Rebecca A. Sharpless brings to life the harsh consequences of the U.S. deportation system and how racism and anti-Blackness operate within it. Sharpless follows the money that ICE funnels into local jails, private contractors, and charter jets, exposing a sprawling system of immigration enforcement that detains and abuses noncitizens at scale. Woven with the wider context of Abdulahis and Saids stories, this immigration odyssey reveals disturbing truths about Somalia, asylum, and the U.S. court system.Shackledwill galvanize readersattorneys, activists, policymakers, and scholars aliketo call out and dismantle this brutal infrastructure.