ICE shuts down the immigration hotline featured on 'Orange is the New Black'

On July 26, Freedom for Immigrants' toll-free hotline was featured on one of the episodes of Orange Is The New Black's final season. Just a week and a half later on August 7, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shut it down. Almost three weeks after the shut down, calls for the re-opening of the Freedom for Immigrants hotline persist, per NBC News.

OITNB has been praised for its ability to represent stories that mimic those of real, incarcerated women on-screen. In line with the show's overarching activist narrative, Diane Guerrero's character Maritzia has a true-to-life deportation storyline in the show's final season. With an immigration hearing looming on the horizon, Maritzia calls Freedom for Immigrants' toll-free hotline in search of a pro bono lawyer. After its hotline was featured on the show, the California-based organization proudly made sure to affirm the hotline's existence.

ICE dismantled the hotline's toll-free component on August 7, essentially shutting the service down. In a statement, ICE told NBC News that all of the enforcement agency's facilities "provide detainees with reasonable and equitable access to telephones." The agency elaborated, stating that three-way calls and call forwarding, services that are offered by Freedom for Immigrants' hotline, are "strictly prohibited."

Leaders of Freedom for Immigrants disagreed with the narrative presented by the federal agency, which has received immense criticism for its increased public presence throughout Trump's presidency.

"ICE is attempting to silence its critics and block people in immigration detention from connecting with communities on the outside. It's disappointing but not unexpected that Trump's ICE would engage in such cruel and undemocratic behavior,” Christina Fialho, Freedom for Immigrants' co-executive director and co-founder, told Mashable in a statement.

Cynthia M. Galaz, the organization's National Hotline Director echoed that sentiment: "I think it would be a stretch of the imagination to believe the [shutdown] of our hotline is motivated by anything but ICE’s desire to silence one of its loudest critics. This is not the first time that ICE uses excuses to prevent us from exposing abuses and conditions in immigration detention,” she told Mashable.

In response to the shutdown, Fialho and Galaz sent a cease-and-desist letter to ICE on August 22, arguing a violation of the organization's first amendment rights. As a follow up, a letter of support signed by members of Congress, and members of the OITNB cast and production crew in partnership with 121 other organizations was sent to ICE.