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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reportedly closed a free phone line allowing detained immigrants to contact a lawyer after starring in the hit Netflix series "Orange is the new black".
The Los Angeles Times announced that a phone line opened for several years by the Freedom for Immigrants organization had been closed less than two weeks after being mentioned in the show.
Christina Fialho, co-executive director of Freedom for Immigrants, told the Times that the move was a reprisal.
"Even a voluntary advantage, such as the free phone line," can not be removed simply because the government is unhappy with how we share with the public what we know about our communications with people in the community. inside, "she said.
The ICE and Department of Homeland Security representatives did not immediately respond to The Hill's requests for comment.
Hotlines were the only no-cost option available to many immigrants in detention centers because they were not entitled to a free phone call when they were detained and the centers did not allow calls to 1- 800.
The Freedom for Immigrants issue was available to inmates via an extension.
The cast members of "Orange is the new black" have appealed to ICE to restore the hotline.
"We are now seeing life mimicking the art in the most destructive way possible," said Laura Gomez, who plays Blanca in the series, at the Los Angeles Times. "I would have liked it to be more of a fictional situation and that we were exaggerating the reality, but it's a little bit the opposite."
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