Pressroom

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…

Marysville, California — Today, the Yuba Liberation Coalition and Detention Watch Network celebrate the news that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will cut the contract for the Yuba County Jail (Yuba) in California. This win comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that ICE will terminate the contract at the Berks County Detention Center in Pennsylvania. Yuba marks the fifth detention contract that has been cut under the Biden administration and was the last remaining county jail in California with an ICE detention contract. In response to Yuba’s ICE detention contract being cut…

Berks County, Pennsylvania — Today, the Shut Down Berks Coalition and Detention Watch Network are celebrating the news that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will cut the contract for the Berks County Detention Center (Berks) in Pennsylvania on January 31, 2023. The announcement signals a major win for people who’ve been detained at the facility and have bravely spoken out against the abuses they’ve experienced and also for organizations in Pennsylvania and around the country that have long fought to shut it down. This is the fourth detention contract that has been cut under the Biden…

Washington, DC — Today, 114 immigrant and human rights groups delivered a letter to the White House urging the Biden administration to immediately close Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers, prevent the development of new detention sites or expansion of existing ones, and cut funding for immigration detention from Congress. The midterm elections made clear how millions of people are coming together to reject attempts to divide us based on what we look like, where we come from, or where we live. As the administration stands up processing of individuals following the long…

Washington, DC — Detention Watch Network applauds the DC District Court’s decision today rendering Title 42 temporarily void. In response to this news, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement: “The end of Title 42 is long-overdue. President Biden promised to put an end to this cruel and racist policy, and with this decision it’s time for him to deliver and fully restore access to asylum without the use of immigration detention. Immigration detention is already growing at an alarming rate. In just two years, the Biden administration has doubled…

Washington, DC — A new report from Detention Watch Network, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and Ceres Policy Research outlines the direct link between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests and the availability and capacity of immigration detention centers. The report - If You Build It, ICE Will Fill It - demonstrates that immigrants in counties with more detention space and counties with an overall higher carceral capacity are significantly more likely to be arrested and detained by ICE. “We need to defund and end immigration detention and instead, invest in resources that…

Washington, D.C. - In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Biden v. Texas affirming President Biden’s authority to end the cruel, Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy, Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director at Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement: “Since its inception, the “Remain in Mexico” policy along with other harmful border policies have forced thousands of Black and Brown migrants into dangerous, often deadly conditions. It is past time for the Biden administration to end these policies once and for all. Today’s Supreme Court decision in Biden v. Texas affirms…

Pecos, TX - Today, a Reveal investigative report exposed that Carla Provost, an official central to the Trump Administration’s family separation policy, remains active under the Biden administration through a contract between the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and San-Antonio based organization Endeavors. Endeavors, which has employed former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, suspiciously secured no-bid contracts with both ICE and ORR last year. Endeavors hired Ms. Provost in March 2021 and tasked her with overseeing operations as…

Washington, DC — In response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issuing a new order to terminate Title 42 with delayed implementation starting May 23, Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement: “From the moment the Trump administration implemented Title 42, a border closure and expulsion policy, the racist underpinnings driving it were clear: use the pandemic to deny Black and brown migrants the opportunity to seek safety and protection in the United States. Title 42 should never have been implemented ​​—full stop— and the…

Gadsden, Alabama — Today, Adelante Alabama, the Shut Down Etowah Campaign and Detention Watch Network celebrate the news that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will no longer use the Etowah County Jail (Etowah) in Alabama. To-date, Etowah has had the capacity to hold 357 people in ICE custody through a rider on an indefinite intergovernmental service agreement (IGSA) between Etowah County and U.S. Marshals Service (USMS). The facility was named on Detention Watch Network’s 2021 “ First Ten to Communities Not Cages” list to provide the administration a roadmap of where to immediately…

Today, the National Immigrant Justice Center, National Immigration Project, and Detention Watch Network welcomed the announcement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will no longer use the Etowah County Jail (Etowah) in Alabama. This announcement is a credit to more than a decade of community organizing by Alabama immigrant rights activists and brave advocacy from people detained in the facility. “These are the victories that I live for, my purpose. Knowing that less people will be subjected to the ongoing conditions in Etowah is a prayer answered. I just hope they continue to…

Washington, DC — In response to a deeply troubling report issued today by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) that exposes egregious conditions at Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Torrance County Detention Facility (Torrance) in New Mexico and calls on ICE to immediately empty the facility, Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement: “This report by the Department of Homeland Security’s own OIG is damning. It adds to the overwhelming bank of evidence detailing how ICE detention is inherently…

Washington, D.C. - A year since the Biden Administration opened dozens of “emergency intake sites” in response to unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the US-Mexico border, at least three emergency intake sites and one “influx” site remain open. Advocates say that these sites that were meant to be temporary are simply child detention by another name. Rather than addressing the systemic issues behind migration and investing in solutions that consider the best interests of children, they say the Biden Administration is doubling down on large-scale child detention with new proposed sites…

Washington, DC — Today American Immigration Lawyers Association, American Immigration Council, American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International USA, Detention Watch Network, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Immigrant Justice Center and the National Immigration Project (NIPNLG) sent a request to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the OIG for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requesting a formal review into the implementation of President Biden’s Executive Order (EO) phasing out the use of private…

Washington, DC — In response to Axios reporting that the Biden administration is planning an expanded home confinement and curfew pilot program, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network issued the following statement: “Immigration detention is inhumane, abusive and unjust – full stop. Reducing the number of people behind bars in immigration detention should be the Biden administration’s utmost priority. It is deeply concerning that instead the administration is growing the detention system while simultaneously growing reliance on e-incarceration. The use of smartphone apps…

Washington, DC — Today, the Biden administration marks one year in office. Detention Watch Network, along with other immigration advocates, are disappointed and frustrated that Biden broke his campaign promises to undo the criminalization and punitive nature of the immigration detention system. Rather than a reduction in detention as promised along the campaign trail that was reaffirmed by Biden as recently as April of 2021, the administration has instead embarked on a troubling pattern of detention expansion and has embraced Trump-era anti-immigrant policies, including the harmful “Remain in…

Washington, DC — Today, 900 spiritual leaders and multiple faith-based and immigrant rights groups delivered a letter to the White House urging the Biden administration to immediately halt all efforts to expand immigrant detention. With the one-year anniversary of President Biden's inauguration approaching, the signatories - including Church World Service, Detention Watch Network, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, UCC National Collaborative on Immigration, and members of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition - expressed deep disappointment in the president for failing to keep his early…

Washington, DC – In response to Axios reporting that the Biden administration will stop detaining undocumented families in detention centers, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network issued the following statement: “While this is encouraging news, it must be realized with an official policy to end the practice of family detention that results in the permanent closure of detention centers without the facilities being converted into adult detention centers. In the absence of an official policy end, the Biden administration is leaving the door open to reignite family detention in…

Washington, DC — In December, Detention Watch Network received a letter from Tae D. Johnson, Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in response to a letter delivered on October 8 to President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas on behalf of 220 immigrant and human rights groups demanding that the Biden administration immediately halt all efforts to expand immigration detention and terminate contracts. Advocates were angered by Acting Director Johnson’s defense of detention in the letter and his complete failure to acknowledge concerns raised in the October 8 letter. Furthermore…

Washington, DC — The Biden administration has failed to deliver on the promise to end the use of private prisons in federal incarceration and immigration detention, according to “ Broken Promises: Limits of Biden's Executive Order on Private Prisons ” a new report released today by Detention Watch Network and Project South. The report provides an overview of progress towards that unfulfilled promise, explores a troubling trend of detention expansion, and outlines the steps the administration must take to end the federal use of private prisons and phase out the use of immigration detention…

Washington, DC — Today and tomorrow, leading into World Children's Day (November 20), mobile ads calling attention to the detention of migrant children are being displayed throughout prominent streets of downtown DC. Although World Children’s Day should be a day of celebration for children all around the world, advocates highlight the contradiction of thousands of migrant children who remain detained in Health and Human Services (HHS) “emergency intake” and “influx” child detention sites. Emergency intake sites (EIS) were opened earlier this year in response to the growing number of…

Washington, DC — In honor of the Latin American holiday, Day of the Dead, 10 events are happening across the country to remember the lives taken by the immigration enforcement system and demand urgent action in coordination with Detention Watch Network and the We Are Home Campaign. Since Biden took office, five people have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. This follows ICE’s highest death toll in 15 years with 21 deaths occurring in FY 2020. Day of the Dead events began on October 28 and will conclude on November 10. Today’s and tomorrow’s events, November 1-2, include…