BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Immigration advocates say dozens of people were detained by ICE in Birmingham and Gadsden with little to no explanation. It is leading to fear in the community.There are still a lot of questions about what happened Wednesday at an immigration supervision program office in Birmingham. Local immigration advocates took a picture of someone being escorted from that office just off Highland Avenue. Allison Hamilton, Executive Director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, tells WBRC the people in our area are under a supervision program that allows them to remain in their communities as they move through immigration proceedings without placing them in custody. Hamilton says they are not here illegally. Some have to wear ankle monitors. Hamilton says people who usually report on a scheduled basis were called in to the office for random check-ins and then detained. “A lot of people received notices yesterday (Wednesday) that they needed to check in. They were told things like the system had gone down and their documentation had been lost so they needed to come in,” Hamilton said.It is still unclear what went down and for what reason. Hamilton says the situation is causing a lot of fear in the migrant community.“It’s outrageous honestly because the people who are trying to comply with the ever changing laws that are going on in this country are the ones being targeted and punished for following that and for trying their best to follow this broken system,” Hamilton said.Hamilton also spoke with a woman named Adriana. She’s the daughter of a woman detained. Hamilton says the mother has been doing check ins for eight years, never broken the law and is doing everything in her power to live her life with her family. With tears running down her face, Adriana described the impact it is having on her family.“The best mom she could ever be. For them to just take away my mom without her having to do anything and she still reported herself here expecting the best outcome. That didn’t happen so I guess I’m kind of like out of hope,” Adriana said.We reached out to the US Department of Homeland Security for comment and we were given the following statement:Hamilton says a similar situation took place this week in Gadsden.Get news alerts in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or subscribe to our email newsletter here.Copyright 2025 WBRC. All rights reserved.