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 – Mary Small, policy director of Detention Watch Network (DWN) responds to the Associated Press report that the Trump administration is considering a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard to act as immigration enforcement agents:
New York – Today, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal by private prison corporations seeking to block the release of government documents about their immigration detention practices. A federal judge ruled in July, in a case brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the Detention Watch Network (DWN), that under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) the government must release details of its contracts with private prison corporations.
Washington, DC — In response to Trump’s executive orders on immigration Silky Shah, co-director of Detention Watch Network said:
“As if it wasn’t already clear from Cabinet nominations like Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, Trump’s executive orders on immigration demonstrate what the next four years will look like — a hate-fueled attack on immigrants and people of color. With today’s executive orders, Trump not only threatens our universal values of human dignity and justice, but actively promotes xenophobia, discrimination, repression, and fear.
Washington, DC — Confirmation hearings for the new administration begin today in rapid succession starting with Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General and General John F. Kelly as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. In response to today’s hearings, Silky Shah, co-director of Detention Watch Network said:
Washington, DC — Immigrant rights organizations, Detention Watch Network (DWN), Puente Arizona and Grassroots Leadership demand an immediate investigation before the end of the Obama Administration into the 13 deaths that occurred in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in 2016. Advocates are demanding that ICE be held accountable, as two more lives were lost in immigration detention just last month.
Washington, DC — A new report, A Toxic Relationship: Private Prisons and U.S. Immigration Detention, released today by Detention Watch Network (DWN) builds on the overwhelming evidence that the privatization of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention exacerbates due process violations, egregious conditions and transparency concerns that are endemic to the immigration detention system.
New York, NY – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Detention Watch Network (DWN) urged a federal court to dismiss an appeal by private prison corporations seeking to block the release of government documents about their immigration detention practices. A federal judge ruled in July that under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the government must release details of its contracts with private prison corporations.
“Throughout his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump has made it clear where he stands with immigrant communities. His racist and incendiary remarks have inflamed anti-immigrant sentiments across the country and given cover to far right and white supremacist agendas of exclusion and demonization.
“DWN calls on Secretary Jeh Johnson to immediately declare a moratorium on the expansion of immigration detention, which has reached a historic high. Skyrocketing detention numbers are exacerbating the well documented abuse and mismanagement that plagues the detention system, as a rising number of asylum seekers are being put behind bars.
Washington, DC – Marking the Latin American holiday, Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead, Detention Watch Network (DWN) held a funeral procession from the White House to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Headquarters to bring awareness to the untimely deaths of immigrants in government custody. Recent investigations into deaths in immigration detention have found that inadequate medical care at detention centers has contributed to numerous deaths.
