In mid-January, Ravi Ragbir, leader of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City, arrived at his check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). An immigrant from Trinidad, Ragbir’s meetings with ICE had long been routine, free of the specter of deportation.

But this time was different. ICE agents informed the prominent activist that he was set to be expelled from the country. Overcome with shock, Ragbir fainted; he was taken away in an ambulance, his wrists bound in handcuffs. While officials claim Ragbir’s detention was due to a conviction for wire fraud nearly two decades ago, his supporters insist it was his activism that made him a target.

“Ravi threatens no one,” Amy Gottlieb, Ragbir’s wife and a fellow immigration advocate, wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times. “On the contrary, he and other immigrant leaders have led their communities with dignity and courage in a brutal time. That’s why they were snatched — and why ICE wants to deport them.”