Oct 16, 2026 · 59 min
Immigration detention and tech workers confront corporate power
Democracy Now! 2026-10-16 Friday
The episode connects escalating immigration enforcement and prison abuses with technology companies’ surveillance, layoffs, and political influence.
- 1An interview with Annalilia Mejia examines ICE activity at a Roxbury warehouse and alleged abuses at New Jersey’s Delaney Hall.
- 2Maria Hinojosa’s documentary follows Estrella, a trans Mexican woman imprisoned in a men’s prison before deportation.
- 3Clarissa Redwine and J.S. Tan argue that organized tech workers can challenge surveillance, harmful technologies, and oligarchic power.
Don't miss
Estrella reveals that she tattooed Maria Hinojosa’s name on her body to feel close during periods without calls, letters, or visits.
The brief
The program opens with escalating immigration enforcement, then examines ICE’s use of a Roxbury warehouse and alleged medical abuses at New Jersey’s Delaney Hall detention center.
Congressmember Annalilia Mejia says private prison corporations including CoreCivic and GEO Group profit from detention expansion while officials withhold information from Congress.
Maria Hinojosa recounts Estrella’s arrest in an El Paso courtroom, nine-year sentence, and nearly decade-long confinement in a men’s prison before deportation to Mexico.
Estrella describes finding love, faith, hormones, and hope behind bars; she says she tattooed Hinojosa’s name to feel connected when contact was impossible.
Clarissa Redwine and J.S. Tan discuss Against Tech Oligarchy, workplace surveillance, AI-driven layoffs, Silicon Valley’s political shift, and organizing against corporate power.
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