Our latest press releases on important news and events relating to immigration detention in the United States
For media inquiries contact: media@detentionwatchnetwork.org
Washington, DC — In response to the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under the Biden administration, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network offered the following statement:
Washington, DC — In response to Vice President Joe Biden being declared the 46th president of the United States, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement:
“After four years of an administration that promoted white supremacy, xenophobia, and hate, this country has officially rejected Donald Trump. Today, we celebrate the repudiation of this disastrous presidency— tomorrow, we awaken to demand a more just society under a new administration of President-Elect Joe Biden.
Washington, DC— As Americans await the election results, the Defund Hate campaign issued the following statement:
Washington, DC — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has doubled-down on its efforts to lock-in contracts for the immigration detention system for years to come by posting four new Requests for Information (RFI) proposals for immigration jails. The RFI’s were posted for the following Areas of Responsibility (AORs) or regions:
Beginning Wednesday, October 21st, in an action dubbed “Fall Freedom Day,” immigrant rights organizations in coordination with the National Bail Fund Network and Detention Watch Network, will begin the process of posting $3 million in immigration bonds to free hundreds of individuals held in immigration detention across the country. The collective action builds off of years of organizing by groups across the country and a similar action in 2019 that freed over 200 people.
Washington, DC — On the last day of Fiscal Year 2020, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement in response to the 21 deaths that have occured in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody throughout the year:
“The tragic death toll for FY 2020 is the highest since FY 2005. People are losing their loved ones to an immigration detention system that simply does not need to exist.
Lumpkin, Georgia — Today the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the death of Cipriano Chavez-Alvarez, 61, who died from COVID-19 early Monday morning after being detained at the Stewart Detention Center (Stewart) in Georgia. Chavez-Alvarez is the third person to die from COVID-19 this year at the facility where there have been over 330 total confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Lumpkin, Georgia – El Refugio, Georgia Detention Watch, Project South, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR), and Detention Watch Network extend their deepest sympathies to the family of Jose Freddy Guillen Vega, who died Aug. 10 of complications from COVID-19 while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.
Taylor, TX — Last week, in a move seemingly designed to ensure mass detention continues for another decade, ICE awarded 10-year contracts to private prison corporations to operate two notorious Texas detention centers — CorecCivic’s T. Don Hutto and GEO Group’s South Texas Detention Complex.
Washington, DC — This week two deaths were reported in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) custody, Kuan Hui Lee, a 51-year-old man who died after being detained at the Krome Detention Center in Miami, and a unidentified 72-year-old man who tested positive for COVID-19 while detained at the Immigration Centers of America (ICA)-operated Farmville Detention Center in Virginia.
