Immigrant rights organizations condemn killing of Terrence Kellom Sr.

A coalition of national immigrant rights organizations stands in solidarity with the people of Baltimore and Detroit by honoring the life of 20-year-old Terrence Kellom Sr. who was shot and killed on April 27th, 2015 in his family home by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent. ICE officer Mitchell Quinn was serving as part of the Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team (D-FAT) which includes members of the Detroit Police and the U.S. Marshals. The ICE agent was deputized by the U.S. Marshals’ office in order to serve Mr. Kellom with a warrant for his arrest and instead shot the unarmed man ten times.

This killing is a tragedy and a violation of Terrence Kellom’s fundamental human rights. Sadly, this is just one of the most recent examples of the national epidemic of state violence and murder attacking Black communities. We demand an end to government-sanctioned violence in all communities and to law enforcement practices that encourage and incentivize profiling and its deadly results with impunity.

Mr. Kellom’s killing clearly demonstrates that the systems criminalizing Black communities, people of color, and immigrants are integrally related. The expansion of ICE’s authority to collaborate with local law enforcement agencies is part of an increased emphasis on punitive enforcement measures. These arrangements terrorize communities, invading homes and workplaces, dividing families, and stealing precious lives.

We stand in solidarity with the family of Terrence Kellom and the people of Detroit in demanding justice for his death and the death of others at the hands of law enforcement. We demand a full and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Kellom's killing. We call for an end to militarized policing of our communities and the collusion of power between federal and local authorities leading to the overt destabilizing of community safety. We understand that the basis of anti-immigrant sentiment is rooted in anti Black racism and commit to the liberation of Black people as central to the liberation of all immigrants and communities of color. We support the Black Lives Matter movement.

SIGNATORIES

Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus
Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Black Immigration Network
Border Action Network
Center for Popular Democracy
Detention Watch Network
Enlace
Immigrant Defense Project
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice
PICO
Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project
United We Dream
We Belong Together