Pressroom

Our latest press releases on important news and events relating to immigration detention in the United States

For media inquiries contact: media@detentionwatchnetwork.org

Cruel and Deadly: Another Life Tragically Lost to Immigration Detention

September 4, 2025

Florence, AZ — The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project and Detention Watch Network are mourning the tragic loss of Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas, 32, affectionately known as "Lenchito,” a beloved son, brother, and friend who died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on Sunday, August 31, 2025. ICE had detained Mr. Batrez Vargas at Central Arizona Correctional Complex in Florence, Arizona and has reported that the cause of his death is currently unknown.

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Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition Now Available as an Audiobook

August 21, 2025

Washington, DC — Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition, by Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network is now available as an Audiobook. Unbuild Walls, released in May 2024, dives into US immigration policy and its relationship to mass incarceration, from the last 40 years to the present, showing how the prison-industrial complex and immigration enforcement are intertwined systems of repression.

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A Closer Look at Trump’s Shocking Immigration Detention Expansion Plans

August 20, 2025

Washington, DC — Trump’s cruel mass detention and deportation agenda has reached a previously unimaginable scope and scale. Last week, a Washington Post report revealed what advocates have been calling attention to for months: with the shocking infusion of funding from the MAGA-backed megabill, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to double its detention capacity by the end of this year to detain nearly 110,000 people.

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Immigrant Justice Groups Raise the Alarm on Expansion of ICE Detention in Prisons

August 18, 2025

NATIONWIDE — Immigrant justice groups are raising the alarm on the rapid expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention through state, federal, and private prisons, including the reopening of facilities that have been shut down.

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ICE detention, the largest detention system in the world, will double capacity to detain more than 100,000 people this year

August 15, 2025

Washington, DC — Breaking reporting from the Washington Post reveals what advocates have been sounding the alarm on for months: with the shocking infusion of funding from the MAGA-backed megabill, ICE plans to double its detention capacity by the end of this year to detain more than 100,00 people.

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Immigrant Justice Groups Across Indiana and the Country Decry Detention Expansion in the Midwest

August 7, 2025

Indianapolis, IN — Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it has entered into an agreement with Indiana to detain up to 1,000 people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody at the Miami Correctional Facility, a maximum security state prison north of Indianapolis.

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Immigration detention at all costs – including safety from natural disasters

August 6, 2025

Washington, DC — In response to the news that FEMA is reassigning employees to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director of Detention Watch Network issued the following statement:

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The escalating use of the National Guard and military for immigration enforcement is yet another marker of an authoritarian regime

July 31, 2025

Washington, DC — In response to news that the Trump administration is deploying the National Guard to assist in processing people for immigration detention in 20 states, Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement:

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Six months in, immigration detention is a clear testing ground for Trump’s authoritarianism

July 22, 2025

Washington, DC - Reflecting on the first six months of Trump’s second term, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, shared the following:

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Renewed Call for “Communities Not Cages” to fight Trump’s Detention Expansion

July 16, 2025

Washington, DC — Today, Detention Watch Network (DWN) is relaunching the Communities Not Cages campaign and renewing its call to shut down Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers and stop the expansion and construction of new facilities.

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