Detention
Amicus Arguments at the Ninth Circuit: The Flores Settlement Applies to All Children
Since the summer of 2014, the government has detained thousands of mothers and children fleeing violence in Central America. Although the longstanding Flores settlement guarantees minimum standards for the detention, release, and treatment of children in immigration detention, the Government’s family detention practices have failed to comply with the settlement. Plaintiffs brought suit to enforce the Flores settlement, and a District Court Judge ruled in July and August of 2015 that the settlement applied to all minors, including those detained with family members. The Department of Homeland Security then filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the settlement only applies to unaccompanied minors, and not those children arriving with one or more parent. This week, a broad array of organizations filed amicus briefs in support of the plaintiffs and arguing against the Government’s position. Read More
A Visit to Berks Family Detention Center Makes Clear Why They Lost their License
Advocates, community members, and attorneys gathered outside the Berks County Family Residential Center in Leesport, Pennsylvania on Monday to protest the continued operation of the center. The center was open for business as usual, with approximately 81 parents and children currently detained, despite the fact that the center’s license… Read More
Texas Child Protection Agency Moves Forward in Licensing Family Detention Centers
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has issued a rule allowing for the two family detention facilities in Texas to apply for licenses to detain immigrant children and their mothers. This move may have the effect of further entrenching the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s… Read More
Eight Families Swept up in Immigration Raids Released, While 30 Other Mothers Issue Plea for Freedom
Two mothers from Honduras and six from El Salvador, along with their children, were finally released from family detention centers in the past several days. These families were among those swept up in immigration raids in early January after the Obama Administration claimed their legal avenues had been exhausted. Read More
Government Losing its License to Operate Family Detention Center in Pennsylvania
On January 27, 2016, Pennsylvania state officials informed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that it would not renew and would revoke the operating license for the Berks County Residential Facility, the immigration detention center in Leesport, Pennsylvania, which jails mothers and children, often for extended periods of time. Read More
Mothers Targeted in Immigration Raids and Still Detained Pen Letter to President Obama
Seven mothers that have been held for four weeks in a family detention facility in Dilley, Texas penned a letter to President Obama asking him to release them and their children while they work through the immigration appeals process. These women and their kids were among those picked up and… Read More
Court Says Class Action Challenging Abusive Conditions in Hieleras Can Move Forward
A federal court in Tucson, Arizona held that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must answer allegations of horrific conditions experienced by individuals in Tucson Sector detention facilities (a.k.a. “hieleras”) along the southern border. In decisions handed down on January 11, the court decided that the case, Doe V. Read More
Hieleras (Iceboxes) in the Rio Grande Valley Sector
These accounts reveal the dehumanizing conditions to which these women were subjected while in Border Patrol custody. Read More
Giving the Immigration Facts a Fighting Chance
As we move through the 2016 presidential election cycle, the issue of immigration will continue to be a central topic of the debate. The United States is at a tipping point after more than two decades without meaningful upgrades to its immigration system. Current U.S. law does not provide sufficient… Read More
Due Process, Enforcement Reform and Family Unification Top Sanders’ Platform
Senator Bernie Sanders, a contender for the Democratic nomination for President, recently released his updated and vastly expanded immigration platform. His initial plan was short on detail; however, this newly-released document takes a deeper dive and presents a set of solutions to some of the worst problems plaguing our outdated immigration system. Read More
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