Family Detention
Newly-Released Government Docs Reveal Dangerous Flaws in Immigration Detention Contracting
The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) released government documents this month that expose the severe lack of accountability in the immigration detention system. NIJC’s Immigration Detention Transparency and Human Rights Project publicly posted 90 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracts and inspections from 2012 after a four-year legal… Read More
Government Ordered to Promptly Release Children From Family Detention
In a decision issued Friday, a district court in California ruled yet again that the government is violating a long-standing settlement agreement protecting the rights of children in immigration detention. Advocates for immigrant children went to court in February to argue that the government’s family detention centers violate the… Read More
Government Doubles Down on Locking Up Immigrant Mothers and Children
The government continued to defend its widespread detention of asylum-seeking women and children in documents filed last week in the Flores case. Advocates went to court in February to argue that the government’s family detention centers violate the long-standing Flores v. Reno settlement agreement, which set minimum standards… Read More
Insider Speaks Out Alongside Formerly Detained Mothers Seeking Protection in the U.S.
At a congressional briefing held earlier this week, Dr. Olivia López spoke out about her experiences as a former social worker at the Karnes family detention center alongside formerly detained mothers, advocates and members of Congress. Dr. López felt compelled to resign from her position in April after her… Read More
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
A Nation of Immigrants Celebrates Fourth of July by Welcoming 4,000 New Citizens
While the Fourth of July invokes excitement as many Americans prepare to spend time with family, attend parades and watch fireworks shows, 4,000 immigrants are participating in a different sort of celebration. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is celebrating Independence Day by swearing-in over 4,000 new U.S. Read More
How Growing Latino Economic and Political Power Prevailed Over Donald Trump
When Donald Trump threw his hat into the ring for the GOP Presidential nomination, he made some of the most racist and offensive remarks ever made by a modern-day Presidential candidate, calling Mexican’s “rapists” and criminals. In making these charged remarks he ignored a critical new reality in… Read More
Nativist Group Misrepresents Facts Again to Support Detaining Children and Families
Last week, the nativist group Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) did it again. This time, CIS misrepresented data on children and families appearing in immigration court, echoing what Fox News reported earlier in the week—both outlets implying that detention is necessary to ensure appearance in court. 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
Calls to End Family Detention Come From Capitol Hill
Over the past year, the Obama Administration has rapidly propped up family detention facilities as a knee-jerk response to the influx of women and children who crossed our southern border last summer. The families fleeing violence and persecution have been apprehended, detained in poor conditions, and rapidly processed… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
