Trump Administration: 80,000 people in ICE and CBP detention facilities

For Immediate Release: 
Friday, May 31, 2019
On a press call today, the administration revealed a shocking new statistic without providing where and how they are growing the already massive system

Washington, DC — On a press call today, the Trump Administration shockingly released new details on the unprecedented growth of the immigration detention apparatus, revealing that the U.S. government is now collectively detaining 80,000 people.

Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement in response:

“The United States is grossly obsessed with incarceration, and there is no more horrifying proponent of a system designed to strip brown and black people of their dignity than Trump.

The shocking growth of the detention system where endemic issues such as fatal medical neglect and abuse run rampant is appalling and a stain on this country’s collective conscience. Today’s call revealed the following:

Immigration detention is not the answer: not for asylum seekers, or for anyone else. It’s a punitive system where lives are in jeopardy. Instead of overcrowding and expanding the deadly system, people need to be released now. Congress must cut funding for detention in FY20, reject the administration's supplemental request for detention funding and put an end to Trump’s massive expansion of immigration detention now.”

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Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to expose and challenge the injustices of the United States’ immigration detention and deportation system and advocate for profound change that promotes the rights and dignity of all persons. Founded in 1997 by immigrant rights groups, DWN brings together advocates to unify strategy and build partnerships on a local and national level to end immigration detention. Visit www.detentionwatchnetwork.org. Follow @DetentionWatch.