We are thrilled to publish this interview with JR in the latest issue of The Opening Statement, our free quarterly newsletter for prisoners.
JR is a library worker and abolitionist who has been a member of the No Detention Centers in Michigan (NDCM) coalition since 2019. Under the second Trump administration, we have seen the reopening of the private North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, MI as an ICE detention center.
On July 4, the coalition held a demonstration outside the prison, and 200 people came out to demand its closing and stand in solidarity with the immigrants held captive inside.
In the interview, which has been lightly edited, JR discusses the history of and conditions at North Lake, the importance of NDCM’s abolitionist framework, and why the migrant detention/deportation regime can be understood as an expression of fascism. We conducted this interview by email in July 2025.
https://michiganabolition.org/2025/08/17/interview-with-jr-of-no-detention-centers-in-michigan-maps/
#NoDetentionCentersInMichigan #AbolitionNow