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Daily Memo: They Met in ICE Detention. Despite a Language Barrier, These Women’s Bond Helped Them Survive

They found a way to spend the nights talking, developing a friendship that got them both through their ordeal. Tania says she saw Masuma as a motherly, grandmotherly figure who took care of her, and Masuma says she wouldn’t have survived without Tania. 

We break down immigration raids and related news in Southern California. Below, you'll find links and references to everything discussed in the video, allowing you to take a closer look at each topic. If you appreciate reporting like this, please consider becoming a member, buying some merch, or dropping a dime in our fundraiser so we can continue bringing you this vital information. 

Masuma Kahn and Tania, a Bangladeshi woman and a young Peruvian lady, are two survivors of California City’s privately owned ICE detention center who formed a friendship despite the language barriers that helped them endure the dehumanizing treatment and conditions there. 

They found a way to spend the nights talking, developing a friendship that got them both through their ordeal. Tania says she saw Masuma as a motherly, grandmotherly figure who took care of her, and Masuma says she wouldn’t have survived without Tania. 

They shared several experiences from inside. In one instance, after Masuma tried to warm her neck with socks to protect herself from the cold AC, she was punished. So Tania tried to cover the AC with paper and paste she made, but she was punished as well. 

They also shared that the lights are always on, four TVs are always blasting in different languages, and doors are always slammed. They describe it as psychological torture. And when they would be forced outside once in a while, it was also torture, because tiny thorn burrs would get stuck to their prison-issued socks, and the guards would make everyone pick them off one by one before coming in. At one point, Masuma refused at one point to go out and was put in solitary confinement as punishment. 

Kahn had recently survived the Altadena fires. After being in the States for almost 30 years, she, like Tania, was taken from their immigration check-in. No warning, no explanations. Masuma is also the inspiration for state Senator Sasha Renee Perez’s SB 995, named the Masuma Kahn Justice Act. Watch the video below to meet these incredible women. ~ Memo Torres

RAIDS

[Friday. March 6th. Day 274.]

AT L.A. TACO

IN OTHER ICE-RELATED NEWS

  • 03/05/26: Internal review U.S. Customs and Border Protection bought online advertising data to track mobile location data via gizmodo
  • 03/05/26: Huntington Beach student is in fear for sister fighting overseas in the Iran war and fighting to get her father back after being deported by ICE via cbsla.
  • 03/05/26: Bay area mother or two young children kidnapped by federal agents at immigration check-in Tuesday according to attorney. Both children have special needs and mother Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez can not be located via communalpress. 
  • 03/06/26: The 11th death in ICE custody, Irvin Cruz Nape, died after release from Adelanto Detention Center via ic4ij. 
  • 03/06/26: Local street vendor self deports due to recent immigration raids with hopes of applying for a work visa to return legally in the US via cbsla.
  • 03/06/26: Nashville Noticias reporter Estefany Maria Rodriguez Flores detained at March 4th immigration appointment via migrantinsider. 

03/06/26: 19 year old returns home after habeas petition from attorney releases client from ICE prison via immdef_lawcenter.

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