Detention
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
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
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
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