Abuses

Immigrants Are Dying in ICE Custody, So We’re Demanding an Investigation
The government has a longstanding history of failing to provide adequate medical and mental health care to immigrants detained in the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, CO. This systemic failure has led to widespread insufficiencies within the facility—as well as the tragic death of two immigrants entrusted in its… Read More

DHS Prosecutes Over 600 Parents in Two-Week Span and Seizes their Children
Following implementation of a "zero tolerance" policy by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ), where migrants who enter without inspection are referred for criminal prosecution, a DHS official announced that 638 parents who crossed with children had been prosecuted in just a 13-day span this month. The admission raises a variety of questions and concerns about what happened to the children while those prosecutions occurred and where those children are today. Read More

The Border Patrol Is Undercounting How Many People Perish While Crossing the Border
Migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization frequently make a life-threatening journey, crossing the desert often with limited supplies of food and water. The Border Patrol is tasked with keeping an accurate count of how many people succumb to these challenges and perish in the desert, as well… Read More

Advocates File FOIA Request for ICE Documents on Detention of Pregnant Women
Through this request, the organizations seek more information regarding the treatment of pregnant individuals held in Immigration and Custom Enforcement custody and any system used to track and monitor pregnant detainees. Read More

Detention of Pregnant Women FOIA Request
The requests ask for policies, guidelines, or procedures followed or used by immigration enforcement regarding the treatment of pregnant individuals in custody and any system used to track and monitor pregnant detainees. Read More

High Profile Cases Highlight Border Patrol Abuses and Need for Systemic Change
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—the Border Patrol in particular—has a reputation for repeatedly and systematically violating the rights of immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. Border Patrol agents are known for regularly using excessive force during apprehensions, detaining people under inhumane conditions, and resorting to coercion and misinformation in order to remove people from the United States. Despite the growing number of reports and studies which document these misdeeds and recommend systemic reforms to prevent them, a pattern of abusiveness remains. Read More

This Controversial Immigration Enforcement Program Threatens U.S. Communities
In an era of increased immigration enforcement, it is even more important to understand the ways in which some states and localities collaborate with the federal government. Recent research also highlights the benefits that immigrants bring to these communities across the country—contributions that could be jeopardized by aggressive enforcement efforts… Read More

Family Separation FOIA Request
The requests ask for policies, guidelines, or procedures followed or used by the governmental agencies to address the processing and treatment of families at the U.S.-Mexico border and specifically, the separation of adult family members from minor children and the criminal prosecution of adult family members. Read More

USCIS Is Withholding Records Showing That Border Agents Are Abusing Asylum Seekers
As thousands of Central American families arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border asking for asylum in 2014, human rights organizations raised alarms about asylum seekers’ treatment by Customs and Border Protection officials. But these organizations were not the only ones expressing concern—asylum officers within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services… Read More

Lawsuit Challenges the Government’s Policy of Indefinitely Detaining Asylum Seekers
A class action lawsuit was filed on March 15, 2018 challenging the U.S. government’s practice of detaining asylum seekers indefinitely and argues the practice is an attempt to deter future asylum seekers from seeking safety in the United States. The suit claims that the Department of Homeland Security has… Read More
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