For two decades, Aleksander Nilaj has served the Bronx, making sure no one in the community goes hungry. Now, the Albanian immigrant is locked up in Delaney Hall in New Jersey after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week.
Nilaj is just one of many immigrants whose sole crime is residing in the U.S. for an extended amount of time, who have been detained by ICE, which claims to only be targeting “the worst of the worst.”
Significance. Nilaj is known in the Bronx community for serving about 8,000 people a month through his Open Hands Association Food Pantry. He spent the last 20 years ensuring residents in the Bronx can receive fresh food and other kitchen staples every Thursday and Saturday.
He has even used his own money to feed people in need.
Meanwhile, says he has spent years pursuing legal pathways to remain in the U.S. despite losing his visa in 2008, according to Eyewitness News, the local ABC station.
Nilaj was detained by ICE last Monday when attending his immigration hearing at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City, according to multiple local news outlets.
He is currently being held at Delaney Hall, a widely controversial detention center in Newark, New Jersey, for its detention conditions and practices that many immigrants inside report violate human rights laws.
The Emancipator has reached out to ICE for a response.
Overlooked angle. The Trump administration and ICE officials have continuously pledged to arrest and deport criminals and “the worst of the worst.” However, many immigrants like Nilaj, who have not committed serious crimes, have been targeted, detained, and deported by ICE agents amid the recent immigration crackdowns across the country.
Power structure. As of July, 70.6% of the immigrants detained in ICE facilities have no criminal convictions, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, whose mission is to provide “comprehensive information about staffing, spending, and enforcement activities of the federal government.”
Rep. Richie Torres, D-N.Y., said many immigrants detained at Delaney Hall also have no criminal records in an interview with Eyewitness News.
“Delaney has about a thousand inmates. None of them are serious offenders or violent offenders. None of them. As far as I’m concerned, Delaney Hall should not even exist,” Torres said.
What experts say. “Donald Trump’s cruel policy of mass deportation is tearing communities and families apart,” Torres said in a video.
“Detaining a man who has dedicated his life to feeding those in need is not justice… It’s cruelty,” Torres said. “The people of the Bronx are demanding the immediate release of Aleks because he is one of our own. Aleks has always stood up for the Bronx; now we in the Bronx must stand up for him.”
