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 recent reporting in The Atlantic that Donald Trump and Stephen Miller are formulating plans to deploy the National Guard to deport millions of immigrants, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network issued the following statement:
Washington, DC – Yesterday the Senate released text of a proposed funding bill that would provide Biden with $118 billion in response to his $106 billion supplemental funding request. The bill includes numerous cruel and dangerous anti-immigrant provisions and will gravely impact people’s ability to seek safety and opportunity in the U.S.
In response, Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director at Detention Watch Network issued the following statement:
TRENTON, NEW JERSEY - The pursuit for immigrant rights in New Jersey is making early headway in 2024 and one of the state’s most significant opponents is President Biden.
Washington, DC – Last week, Frankline Okpu, 37, died on December 6 and Carlos Juan Francisco, 42, died on December 4, both in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. The tragic passing of Okpu and Francisco marks 14 reported deaths in ICE custody under the Biden administration.
Washington, DC – New reports indicate that the Biden administration has signaled willingness to use immigrants as bargaining chips to push through his October funding request.
Louisiana — Today, Detention Watch Network, the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition, the National Immigration Project (NIPNLG), and RFK Human Rights released an ‘Anthology of Abuse’ on the still operational Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana. Its short history as a U.S.
Washington, DC – Today, following a Senate Appropriations Hearing, activists and immigration attorneys, including Muslims for Just Futures, Pangea Legal Services, and Project ANAR confronted Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas over President Biden’s $105 billion supplemental funding request, including $8.7 billion in additional funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), doubling down on a policy of hyper militarization and incarceration.
Watch the video of the confrontation with Mayorkas
Washington, DC – Right now, at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, seven activists representing progressive causes across the United States, including immigrant rights groups, are being arrested for demanding an immediate ceasefire and that members of Congress vehemently reject the White House’s supplemental funding request. With red paint on their hands, activists chanted “from Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go!”
Washington, DC — On Friday, the White House made a supplemental funding request of $105 billion, including a $13.6 billion in border supplemental, doubling down on a policy of hyper militarization and incarceration that makes our communities less safe. Most of the funding is designated for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and while it provides some crucial humanitarian aid, a majority of the remainder of the request is for military resources through the Department of Defense (DOD).
United States - Yesterday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that a 32-year-old man named Julio Cesar Chirino Peralta died in its custody. ICE had detained Mr. Peralta at the Port Isabel Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas, for less than a month before the day of his death on October 8. Mr. Peralta is the 12th person who has died in ICE custody during the Biden administration's first term.
