Washington, DC – Today, 383 organizations sent a letter to President Biden demanding an official policy terminating family detention amid reports the administration is considering reviving the widely condemned practice. The letter also details grave concern that the Department of Homeland Security will attempt to push families through the new expedited removal process laid out in the recently proposed asylum ban rule, which when coupled with family detention could essential create “deportation factories” as families scramble to defend their asylum eligibility while trying to protect their…
Our latest press releases on important news and events relating to immigration detention in the United States. For media inquiries, contact media@detentionwatchnetwork.org.
Nationwide — When the COVID-19 pandemic began, immigrant rights advocates raised the alarm over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) putting the lives of people in detention at even more risk. As the federal government declares this public health emergency over, calls are intensifying for the Biden administration to address an array of cruel immigration detention practices and policies. Local communities across the country are proposing state legislation that would end ICE facility contracts as a step toward shutting down detention centers entirely. Decades of abuse in the immigration…
San Diego, California —The Free Them All San Diego Coalition, the Mami Chelo Foundation, and Detention Watch Network are demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately investigate and release findings related to the death of Cristian Dumitrascu, a 50-year-old man from Romania. Mr. Dumitrascu died on March 5 while detained at the San Diego ICE Otay Mesa Detention Center. Immigrant justice advocates are demanding the facility shut down and that ICE release everyone detained in the wake of this tragedy. “I can’t express in words the pain that we are in right now. It's a tough…
Washington, DC - In response to New York Times reporting that the Biden administration is considering reviving the practice of family detention, Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director of Detention Watch Network issued the following statement: “We have repeatedly said that in the absence of an official policy to end family detention, the Biden administration is leaving the door open to reignite the policy in the future. We are disheartened, and enraged to learn that the Biden administration is now in fact considering bringing back the cruel and inhumane practice of detaining families. President…
Washington, DC - Today, over 170 organizations sent a letter to the Biden administration demanding an end to all Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention contracts expiring in 2023. For decades, government oversight agencies, media outlets, and local advocates have documented inhumane conditions, mistreatment, abuse, inadequate medical care, and death at immigration detention facilities nationwide. Yet still, the Biden administration and previous administrations have empowered ICE and the local entities and private prison corporations it contracts with to ignore and cover up these…
Jena, Louisiana — Today, news broke of a hunger strike at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center with an estimated 300 people kicking off the strike by refusing their breakfast on Monday and demanding their release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility run by the second-largest private prison corporation, The GEO Group (GEO Group). “On Monday night, I spoke with a striker who estimated that hundreds of detained folks across nine or ten units within the facility are participating in the hunger strike,” said Natalia Renta, Volunteer Attorney. “This hunger strike…
Washington, DC – Yesterday, President Biden announced several new restrictive immigration policies that further undermine the asylum process, expand inhumane Title 42 expulsions, and increase the use of expedited removal. In response, Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement: “Biden’s new immigration enforcement policies continue a failed decades-long deterrence strategy and are a page from the same xenophobic, anti-immigrant playbook as the previous administration. These policies will cause immeasurable harm for people seeking safety in…