Detention
Transfers of Detained Families Traumatizes Mothers and Children and Interferes with Access to Lawyers
The government recently began transferring families who have been held in Texas to the Berks County Family Residential Facility in Pennsylvania. Not only have these sudden transfers traumatized many mothers and children, but they are interfering with the families’ access to their lawyers and are jeopardizing their right to a… Read More
Temporary Restraining Order Against Texas Family Detention Centers Issued
On Friday, a Texas State Court Judge granted a temporary restraining order in Grassroots Leadership v. hs (TFPS) prohibiting TFPS from issuing licenses to family detention facilities in Dilley and Karnes City, Texas, under the emergency regulations the Department issued in September. Both Texas and Pennsylvania’s family detention facilities… Read More
Can State Agencies License The Detention of Immigrant Families?
In the discussion around family detention, little attention has been paid to the fact that states play an important role in licensing any facilities where children are cared for. That role has come under heightened scrutiny since federal judge Dolly M. Gee ruled in August that, under the long-standing Flores v. Reno settlement agreement, children detained with their parents cannot be held in facilities that are not licensed to care for children. Since the decision, state authorities in Texas and Pennsylvania, the two states with detention centers for immigrant families, have taken action—but have moved in opposite directions. Read More
ICE Detention System Still Lacks Transparency and Accountability, Says Report
After 9/11, the immigration detention system in the United States began to expand dramatically, with very little in the way of transparency or accountability as to how the system operated or what happened to the people who were detained. Not surprisingly, stories began to surface of human rights abuses suffered… Read More
Immigrant Rights Advocates Sue to Reveal Policies and Procedures at Artesia Family Detention Facility
Washington D.C. – Immigrant rights groups today filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation to compel the release of documents regarding the use of the expedited removal process against families with children, including those detained at the family detention center in Artesia, New Mexico. To date, the government has… Read More
Immigration Courts Have New Rules Governing Legal Representation Processes
Last week, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) announced changes to the regulations governing legal representation in immigration court and at the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Every year, thousands of immigrants are forced to represent themselves in immigration court. The changes are intended to increase representation of… Read More
Private Prison Company Expands Immigration Reach with $11 Million Contract
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently announced a pilot case management program as an alternative to holding mothers and children in detention. The annual $11 million contract was awarded to Geo Care LLC, a subsidiary of the Geo Group—the second largest private prison company in the U.S. that operates… Read More
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Releases Scathing Report and Calls for End to Family Detention
This week, the drumbeat to end family detention got louder when the United States Commission on Civil Rights (the Commission) released a report which focused on conditions in immigration detention centers and family detainees. The report—sent directly to the President, the Vice President, and the Speaker of House—contains numerous… Read More
Five Families Released After Prolonged Detention
On Friday evening, just before the Labor Day weekend, the government released five mothers and their five children, ranging in age from three to seventeen years old, from the South Texas Residential Family Detention Facility in Dilley, Texas. These families, who sought refuge in the United States after fleeing violence… Read More
ICE’s Transfer of Transgender Women to Remote Detention Facility Raises Grave Concerns
Earlier this summer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced new policies regarding transgender adult detainees in its custody—policies that were intended to provide a “respectful, safe and secure environment for all detainees.” While some of the announced policies were well-received, many advocates identified serious shortcomings, including the continued allowance… Read More
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