ICE accused of blocking the number for a real immigrant hotline used in Orange Is the New Black's final season

Gothamist

In the seventh and final season, detained immigrants at the fictional Litchfield women’s prison were shown passing around a phone number on a piece of paper for a hotline run by Freedom for Immigrants, a real group that provides immigrants with legal assistance. "But in a twist that could have come straight from the TV drama, Freedom for Immigrants claims ICE blocked detainees from using its phone number this month—just two weeks after the release of the series," reports WNYC's Beth Fertig. "The advocacy group sent a cease and desist letter to ICE and its phone contractor asking it to restore the phone number, and said the shutdown is deeply suspicious." The producers of OITNB have sent a letter to Congress calling for ICE to have the number restored. As Fertig notes, "the hotline isn’t a 1-800 number, because those don’t work from ICE detention centers. Instead, it’s a four-digit pro bono extension detainees can call for free."