Newsletter: April 30, 2025
| Good afternoon 285 South readers, Hope you’re all doing okay. Before we get started with events, we are very excited to share with you some good news: 285 South reporter Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow was awarded the Atlanta Press Club’s Rising Star Award last night! We couldn’t agree more with what one of the judges said: “Gabriela is a shining example of a young, thoughtful journalist.” On the community calendar this week: The nonprofit El Refugio, which runs a hospitality house for those visiting loved ones at Stewart Detention Center, is hosting a fundraiser concert tonight (April 30) at the Grant Park Coffeehouse with musicians Rebekka Goldsmith and Will Robertson. (We’ve reported previously on Stewart, one of the largest immigrant detention facilities in the country.) Mosaic Health Center (formerly the Clarkston Community Health Center) is hosting a health fair on Saturday afternoon in Clarkston, with free blood pressure and glucose tests, health and nutrition education, and developmental screenings. And finally, here’s where you can celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the Atlanta metro. Okay, let’s get started. Here’s what 285 South has been covering: Multiple sources tell 285 South that people stuck in immigrant detention centers in Georgia are sleeping on the floor. People being held at two Georgia immigrant detention facilities—Stewart and Folkston—have reported overcrowding and other inhumane conditions, according to their attorneys and to other immigrant rights advocates. Bethany Biswas, who has a client at Lumpkin’s Stewart Detention Center, said her client’s wife reported that Stewart was so overcrowded that “detainees were sleeping on the floor.” Amilcar Valencia, the executive director of El Refugio, said people visiting their loved ones at Stewart have come back with similar reports: “Some people even don’t have a bed. They just give them a mattress, and they’re sleeping on the floor.” Leeann Culbreath, a Tifton pastor and longtime immigrant rights advocate, has visited the Folkston ICE Processing Center the past two weekends in a row. She said she had heard about overcrowding from folks inside the facility, though it now appears many people were transferred out. But, she said, she has witnessed other issues at the facility: “The visitation room is very full, and there are a lot of people coming to visit, and they seem overwhelmed. And every time I’ve been there lately, people are there for the first time, and they are confused, and they’re not given much information.” One woman attempting to visit her boyfriend was turned away, Leeann said, because she was wearing open-toed sandals and a dress with a slit. “The dress code is not published anywhere [at the physical location], so they have no way of knowing the dress code until they get there.” 285 South reached out to ICE for comment, but hadn’t received a response at time of publication. Stay tuned for our full story. The Atlanta pastry pop-up that’s raising funds for Palestine  Vinny Pellegri, founder of Vinny’s Mutual Aid Bakery, at his pop-up outside Pure Quill Superette in East Atlanta on Sunday. Photo credit: Sophia Qureshi Late on Sunday morning, East Atlanta resident Vinny Pellegri was setting up his pop-up, Vinny’s Mutual Aid Bakery, outside a cafe and market on Memorial Drive. Spread out on a picnic table in front of him was a tray of freshly baked focaccia with seasonal vegetables from Freedom Farmers Market, a container full of cannoli shells waiting to be filled, and a neat row of metal containers with the garnishes: strawberries, edible flowers, sea salt, and Parmesan cheese. Unless you’ve been following Vinny on Instagram, you wouldn’t know that the inspiration behind the meticulously laid-out ingredients was across the Atlantic Ocean, over 6,000 miles away. Since last summer, Vinny has been selling cannoli as a way to raise funds for people affected by Israel’s siege of Gaza—where, the World Food Programme recently warned, famine may be imminent. Read the full story here. Despite funding uncertainties, this Vietnamese nonprofit is continuing to serve immigrant communities  Outside the Atlanta chapter of the BPSOS office in Norcross. Photo credit: Sophia Qureshi We’ve been speaking to staff at the Norcross office of Boat People SOS, a Vietnamese nonprofit that serves immigrant communities. Several community health workers in Atlanta and in BPSOS’s offices nationwide were funded through an AmeriCorps grant—but earlier in April, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency slashed AmeriCorps, forcing roughly 75 percent of its employees to be put on administrative leave. Those we spoke to weren’t sure what that means for their community health work. Another federal grant through Emory’s nursing school, supporting the nonprofit’s healthcare work, is also up in the air. Read our full story here. Stories we’re following: Indian man arrested in Acworth for alleged kidnapping at Walmart, despite scant evidence (Fox 5 Atlanta) As Korean businesses gather for a convention in Duluth, many feel uncertainty over tariffs (American Community Media) After her husband was arrested by federal immigration agents, a DeKalb County resident relies on her church for support (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Kennesaw State faculty members resist Trump’s attacks on DEI (Georgia Recorder) Three children with U.S. citizenship—including a four-year-old receiving treatment for metastatic cancer—were deported to Honduras with their mothers (CNN) FBI arrests a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities; protests gather to show support (AP) Detainees in Anson, Texas, sent out an SOS message. (Reuters) Over 280 colleges and universities have identified 1,800-plus international students and recent graduates who have had visas revoked (Inside Higher Ed) And that’s a wrap! But just before we go, here’s a photo of me and Gabriela last night at the Atlanta Press Club Awards, where true to our immigrant roots, we had many family members and extended family, join us (they were snapping the photos!).  As always, if you have any questions for us, or any stories that you want us to cover, please don’t hesitate to just hit reply to this email. We’ll see you here next week. Warmly, Sophia Qureshi Founder, 285 South |
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