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

Advocates Demand Answers from ICE on Alarming Number of Deaths in Detention Centers During 2016

December 16, 2016

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.

New Report: Private Prisons Fail to Ensure Safety and Dignity of Immigrants Held in their Facilities

December 1, 2016

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.

Private Prison Corporations Cannot Stop Release of Government Documents, Attorneys Argue

November 29, 2016

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.

DWN Statement on Presidential Election

November 9, 2016

“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.

Detention Watch Network calls on DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson to declare a moratorium on immigration detention expansion

November 1, 2016

“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.

Immigrant Rights Groups Hold Funeral Procession to ICE HQ as News Broke Last Week of Another Death in Detention

November 1, 2016

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.

DWN Reacts to Skyrocketing Detention Numbers as ICE Director Sarah Saldaña Promotes Profiteering

October 21, 2016

“With recent reports of detention numbers at a record breaking high of over 40,000 people behind bars -- Detention Watch Network calls on Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson, to immediately intervene in operations at ICE. It’s clear that these inconceivable numbers are the result of ICE Director Sarah Saldaña’s mismanagement of an agency that has proven time and again that it is incapable of caring for people in its custody.

Federal Government Takes a Much Needed Step Against Mass Incarceration

August 18, 2016

Statement from Silky Shah, Co-Director of Detention Watch Network, on news that the United States Justice Department plans to end its use of private prisons:

“We are encouraged by today’s announcement that the Justice Department plans to end their toxic relationship with the private prison industry. For far too long, private prison companies have treated people’s lives as profit in the mass incarceration system, stripping people of their dignity and leaving a trail of abuse and mismanagement in their wake.

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