Detention
Judge’s Order in Flores Should Signal the End of Family Detention
A federal judge issued an order in the Flores case that should go a long way to ending the government’s practice of detaining children and their mothers in unlicensed, secure facilities in Dilley and Karnes, Texas. Since the summer of 2014, the government has detained thousands of women and children fleeing violence in Central America. The longstanding Flores settlement guarantees minimum standards for the detention, release, and treatment of children in immigration detention. These standards, the court concluded, are not being met. Read More
Evidence Shows Asylum Seekers Appear for Court with Alternatives to Detention and Legal Assistance
When thousands of Central American families fled violence to the United States last year, the Administration responded by opening family detention centers, which are detaining mothers and children as their asylum-based claims work through the court system. Family detention has since led to complaints of psychological harm, suicide attempts, protests and hunger strikes by detainees, and lawsuits over lack of due process, all at exorbitant cost. Yet a new paper by the American Immigration Council and Center for Migration Studies, A Humane Approach Can Work: The Effectiveness of Alternatives to Detention for Asylum Seekers, suggests that U.S. detention of asylum seekers is not only harmful, but unnecessary. Read More
A Humane Approach Can Work: The Effectiveness of Alternatives to Detention for Asylum Seekers
For decades, the U.S. refugee protection system has been a symbol of the nation’s generosity and openness to the world’s persecuted. Yet since Congress’ enactment of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), asylum seekers arriving at the United States-Mexico border have been subject to mandatory detention… Read More
New Memo on Detained Transgender Immigrants Does Not Go Far Enough
U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) will shift its policies regarding transgender adult detainees in its custody according to a memo released last week. While the changes seem positive, they still fall short according to LGBTI and immigration advocates. Read More
Why Our Humanitarian Obligations to Children Crossing the Border Still Matter
Last summer, the flow of Central Americans seeking refuge in the United States—many of them children—reached its height. One of the government’s first responses to the increased numbers was to reinstitute family detention, with the opening of a makeshift facility in Artesia, New Mexico, one year ago tomorrow. Today, the… Read More
Members of Congress Report on Texas Family Detention Center Visits
Earlier this week, eight Democratic House Members took a trip to Dilley and Karnes, Texas to visit two immigrant family detention facilities and meet with women and children detained there. Dozens of women demonstrated during the visit, using sheets and pillow cases to make their statements. One five-year-old boy held… Read More
Immigrants Kept for Days in Border Patrol’s Bedless Holding Cells
Every day, over a thousand individuals are held in Border Patrol detention facilities near the U.S. southern border. These facilities are notorious for freezing cold temperatures, overcrowded conditions and lack of any bedding or beds. In addition, they routinely lack adequate food, water, and medical care. The reality is… Read More
Way Too Long: Prolonged Detention in Border Patrol Holding Cells, Government Records Show
Each year, the Border Patrol, a division of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), holds hundreds of thousands of people in detention facilities near the southern border that are extremely cold, frequently overcrowded, and routinely lacking in adequate food, water, medical care, and access to legal counsel. Although CBP intends… Read More
Immigrants Held for Days in Freezing, Unsanitary Cells File Class-Action Lawsuit
Washington D.C. — Tucson Sector Border Patrol holds men, women, and children in freezing, overcrowded, and filthy cells for extended periods of time in violation of the U.S. Constitution, a group of legal organizations allege in a class-action lawsuit filed Monday. The class-action suit, which was filed on behalf of two people… Read More
Challenging Unconstitutional Conditions in CBP Detention Facilities
The class-action lawsuit complaint alleges that Tucson Sector Border Patrol holds men, women, and children in freezing, overcrowded, and filthy cells for days at a time in violation of the U.S. Constitution and CBP’s own policies. Read More
Make a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
