Detention and Deportation in the Age of ICE: Immigrants and Human Rights in Massachusetts
by ACLU of Massachusetts
December 10, 2008
The ACLU of Massachusetts
EVERY DAY IN MASSACHUSETTS, approximately 800 immigrants and asylum-seekers are in detention in county jails around the state waiting to be deported or fighting a legal battle to stay in the country. None of those persons are serving sentences for having committed a crime. Yet they spend months, and sometimes years, in cells side-by-side with sentenced criminals, not knowing when they will be allowed to leave.
Detention and Deportation in the Age of ICE tracks the experience of 40 detained persons through the system of detention set up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The report is the first of its kind to thoroughly document jail conditions and due process issues for immigrants detained in Massachusetts. A series of personal stories illustrates that in its zeal to deport all deportable persons, ICE tramples on fundamental rights. In-depth analysis of hundreds of pages of government documents reveals the massive and growing federal presence in our state.
