GAIN’s Equal Justice Works Fellow to serve detained immigrants in Georgia

Atlanta, GA—Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Georgia’s immigrant detention facilities are among the most notorious in the country, including Stewart Detention Center (infamous for its isolation, substandard medical care, and allegations of abuse), Folkston Detention Center, and previously, Irwin Detention Center (closed after documented medical abuse of female detainees, including hysterectomies without consent). In rural Georgia, hours away from most attorneys, detained immigrants face an uphill battle navigating complex laws before judges who deny the vast majority of asylum cases. Adding to detained immigrants’ predicament, in summer 2024, ICE ended free phone calls for detainees and the Southern Poverty Law Center (which for seven years helped immigrants win their freedom from detention and protected their due process rights) ended its direct representation immigration work. 

Now, with no organization centrally dedicated to providing free release support to detained immigrants in Georgia, access to free legal representation is further out of reach.

Georgia Asylum & Immigration Network (GAIN) is committed to working closely with our partners across Georgia and nationally to help meet this enormous need. The expansion of our work for detainees would not be possible without the support of Equal Justice Works, Greenberg Traurig, and UPS. We are immensely grateful to Greenberg Traurig and UPS for sponsoring recent Harvard Law graduate Alizeh Sheikh’s Equal Justice Works Fellowship with GAIN. “The Equal Justice Works program is a great opportunity for new lawyers to start a career in public interest,” Alizeh shared. “Because nonprofits generally cannot offer entry-level legal positions, EJW gives fellows the funding and support to work at their dream organization right out of law school. I have really enjoyed my first few weeks at GAIN. It’s really exciting to be at an organization that focuses on humanitarian work and to see how GAIN’s efforts have made such a huge difference for their clients.” 

Alizeh joined us in September and will be with GAIN until 2026, coordinating with others serving detained immigrants in Georgia to fill gaps in services, directly representing immigrants fighting for their freedom, and preparing educational materials that equip detained immigrants with knowledge about the complex immigration legal system. “One of the largest immigration detention centers in the country, Stewart Detention Center, is right in our own backyard,” shared Alizeh. “Georgia is ranked fifth in the country, closely behind Arizona and California, in the number of ICE detainees. There is a lot of suffering that goes on in ICE detention, and not only are people not aware of the abuses that occur, but they do not realize the proximity and scale of that suffering.”

Through Greenberg Traurig and UPS’s support, GAIN and Alizeh Sheikh will help bring justice for detained asylum seekers and survivors of crime in Georgia. 

Stay tuned to learn more about Alizeh and her work with GAIN in the weeks to come!