Washington, DC — In response to news that the Trump administration plans to use the US Navy to build and expand immigration detention centers, Setareh Ghandehari, advocacy director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement:
“Trump’s increasing use of military bases, funding, and personnel - now including the US Navy - for the targeting, detention, and deportation of people is beyond the scope and scale of any immigration enforcement plans we’ve seen before, setting a dangerous precedent. We have long known that Trump’s cruel deportation agenda would be bottomlined in an aggressive multi-layered detention expansion plan at all costs – including at the expense of Americans receiving lifesaving healthcare and millions of kids having school lunches – however, the scope and scale, and more importantly, human toll, continue to be shocking.
“There have been at least 24 deaths in ICE custody since Trump’s inauguration, a record number of deaths within a calendar year since Detention Watch Network began tracking in 2006. Trump's cruel detention expansion is exacerbating these inherently inhumane conditions and expanding abuses, with increasing reports of death, medical neglect, overcrowding, lack of food, and rampant transfers. What we’re seeing now is a heightened degree of cruelty as Trump will stop at nothing to dehumanize and vilify immigrants.
“This weekend nationwide protests will once again illuminate that people do not want ICE agents and detention centers in their communities or anywhere. Immigrants are vital contributors to local communities – neighbors, friends, coworkers, caretakers and more. People don’t want investment in immigration enforcement or the deployment of the Navy or other military personnel at the expense of critical programs that support millions of Americans like healthcare, food assistance, and education. The chilling impact of immigration enforcement is profound and widespread as people of every background will feel the absence of valued community members.”
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Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition building power through collective advocacy, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications to abolish immigration detention in the United States.