Pressroom

Phoenix, AZ — Detention Watch Network, Indivisible Project and Faith in Action’s immigrants’ rights program, LA RED are demanding an immediate investigation and public release of the findings related to the death of Simratpal Singh. Singh, 21, died on May 3 while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after being detained at the La Paz County Jail. This is the second death to occur in ICE custody in the state of Arizona within the last month and the sixth death to occur in ICE detention in Fiscal Year 2019. “This tragedy must be investigated and the Trump administration needs to…

Washington, DC — Today the Trump Administration sent Congress a $4.5 billion supplemental funding package. The expedited funding request, to increase resources yet again for this fiscal year, will expand the already massive immigration enforcement apparatus that tears apart families, further militarizes our southern border, and violates human rights with impunity. The Defund Hate Coalition issued the following statement urging Congress to reject the supplemental funding: “We reject calls for any additional funding for ICE, CBP, and other agencies involved in immigrant detention and processing…

Washington, DC—In response to U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s ruling to thwart asylum seekers right to bond, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement: “Cloaked in a bureaucratic process change, this is an all out assault in the Trump Administration’s war on immigrants. Barr’s decision to deny many asylum seekers the opportunity to ask for bond will lead to a massive increase in indefinite immigration detention. This first ruling from Barr demonstrates the degree to which the new Attorney General is in lock-step with Trump’s anti-immigrant…

Adelanto, CA — Detention Watch Network and the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice are demanding an immediate investigation and public release of the findings related to the death of José Ibarra Bucio. Ibarra Bucio, 27, died on February 7 while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after being detained at the Adelanto Detention Center. Two months later, ICE has yet to publicly report any details on Ibarra Bucio’s tragic death. “ICE’s lack of transparency over two months after the death of José Ibarra Bucio in their custody is unacceptable—full stop,” said Javier Hernandez…

Florence, AZ — Members of the Defund Hate coalition and local immigrant rights groups are demanding an immediate investigation and public release of the findings related to the death of Abel Reyes-Clemente. Reyes-Clemente, 54, died on April 3 while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after being detained at the Florence Service Processing Center. “We call for an immediate investigation into the medical care that Reyes-Clemente received in ICE custody,” said Lourdes Ortiz, Advocate for the Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee and member of the Defund Hate Coalition. "ICE…

Washington, D.C. — The #DefundHate coalition announced today the next phase of its national campaign to defund Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Both agencies have well-documented track records of abuse and have repeatedly thwarted oversight and accountability. CBP and ICE play a key role in Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda, and are instrumental in carrying out the militarization of border communities, devastating deportations of individuals and families, and the unconscionable detention of migrants. WATCH the new campaign video here “More and more…

Washington, DC — The Defund Hate Coalition issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2020: “Trump’s budget doubles down on his hateful, anti-immigrant agenda. Notably, the budget calls for a massive slush fund amidst his fabricated national emergency declaration, providing further evidence that the Administration opposes constitutional checks and balances and is attempting to concentrate power—particularly over federal resources—in the Executive Branch. This budget dramatically expands the deportation force, surveillance dragnet, wasteful…

Dwight, IL — Community members of Dwight expressed shock upon learning of the cancellation of today’s information session at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church regarding a massive detention center proposal, even as opposition to the proposal continues to grow. “Detention, no matter how nicely it is portrayed, is still inhumane. Treating the stranger in this manner is not supported by any major faith,” said Melanie Schikore, Executive Director of the Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants, an organization that provides pastoral care to immigrants in detention. “It is heartbreaking to think…

Los Fresnos, TX — Members of the #DefundHate coalition and a local immigrant rights group are deeply saddened to learn of a stillborn baby at the Port Isabel Detention Center on February 22, as the mother was held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for nearly a week following the tragedy. “We call for an immediate investigation into the medical care the mother received in ICE custody,” said Nancy Cárdenas Peña, Texas Director for State Policy and Advocacy of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. "We know that regardless of what conditions are promised by ICE…

Washington, DC — The Defund Hate Coalition issued the following statement in response to President Trump declaring a national emergency to funnel billions more tax dollars to build more wall on the southern U.S. border: “Today, Trump declared a fraudulent national emergency for his border wall funding, confirming his month-long threats fueled by anti-immigrant rhetoric and fear-mongering. This is a unilateral move by Trump to bypass the democratic process and redirect billions of taxpayer dollars to appease his base over a dangerous wall that neither Congress nor the American public supports.…

Washington, DC — In response to the proposed bill to avert another government shutdown, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement: “DWN is not only disappointed, but outraged by the political spin taking place on immigration detention within the proposed funding deal. Democrats have mislead their constituents and the media with the false claim that immigration detention would decrease by 17 percent with this bill. In reality, this deal actually increases funding available for immigration detention by about 5,000 people per day (from 40,520 people…

Washington, DC — Last night, details of an agreement by the conference committee emerged that show potential increases to the deportation forces of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including the building of 55 miles of border wall and a massive expansion of immigration detention. For over a year, the Defund Hate coalition has advocated to members of Congress and to state and local officials to reject Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda and to do so by defunding the agencies that are militarizing, incarcerating, and surveilling our communities. In…

Washington, DC — Amidst delicate negotiations in Congress over funding, ICE continues to rapidly increase the number of people it is locking up in its prison system, now standing at an astonishing 48,747 people per day, up more than 40 percent since Trump came into office. Members of Congress are checking ICE’s pattern of growth with a proposed detention cap, which attempts to prevent the Administration from circumventing the Congressional appropriations process by raiding other government accounts to expand immigration detention. “The Administration is willing to risk another destructive…

El Paso, Texas — The nine Sikh asylum seekers on hunger strike in the El Paso Service Processing Center (EPSPC) have been thrown into solitary confinement after refusing to be force-fed standing up, reports their attorney after speaking with a family member. Immigrant rights advocates, civil rights organizations, and local community groups are deeply alarmed by this latest development involving the nine Sikh asylum seekers who have been on hunger strike for more than 40 days to protest their incarceration at the EPSPC. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has responded with abusive…

Washington, DC — In response to Trump’s fear-mongering and divisive State of the Union address, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement: “Trump used the State of the Union as yet another depraved call for the administration’s anti-immigrant agenda at the expense of immigrant lives and healthy, thriving communities nationwide. He repeatedly exploited isolated tragedies to demonize entire immigrant communities — a signature move from the administration’s playbook to criminalize and attack immigrants at large while placing Immigration and Customs…

Washington, DC — This week, some Democratic members of the conference committee opened the door to further enable Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda with a proposal to increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) budget by $396 million and Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) budget by $278 million. The proposal comes as Congress is negotiating a way to fund the government after February 15 or face another Trump imposed shutdown. Disappointed by the initial proposal, the #DefundHate Coalition released the following statement: “It’s not just about the wall. We reject any funding proposal…

Washington, DC — Today, Trump ended his self-imposed government shutdown that caused immense harm to hundreds of thousands of federal workers, contractors, and people reliant on critical government programs. The move by Trump occured after mass mobilizations across the country called for the end of his game to hold the government hostage in an effort to bankroll his harmful, ineffective border wall and anti-immigrant agenda. Members of the Defund Hate Coalition issued the following statement: “Members of Congress must not buy into Trump’s manufactured border crisis, a guise to fund his…

Washington, DC — In response to Trump’s proposal to exchange massive increases in border wall funding for temporary protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients, Mary Small, Policy Director of Detention Watch Network: “Trump is responsible for cruelly rescinding DACA and TPS, critical protections for immigrants, and is now attempting to appease his white nationalist base by using the very people that he has endangered as bargaining chips. Today’s proposal to exchange temporary DACA/TPS protections for his hateful border wall is…

With thousands of federal workers on the cusp of a missed paycheck, President Trump staged a televised meeting today in McAllen, Texas, where he and members of his administration repeated the same hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric he has used since his candidacy to attempt to justify a federal government shutdown already taking a toll on American families and communities. The event was nothing more than a publicity stunt to increase spending for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which according to new media reports today has locked up more than 3…

Washington, DC — More than two weeks into Trump’s shutdown of the federal government, the president continues to hold Americans hostage to his anti-immigrant agenda. Congress must continue to reject the president’s irrational demands to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to pay for his border wall and the immigration enforcement and detention system that has separated thousands of families, put children in cages, and caused the deaths of migrants who came to the United States seeking safety and freedom. People fleeing persecution and violence have a right under U.S. law to request protection…

Washington, DC — Last night, Trump and Republicans shut down the government over Trump’s hateful border wall. While Trump is holding the government hostage in order to continue his attacks on immigrant communities, we are calling on Democrats and Republicans in Congress to reject Trump’s demands and pass a clean continuing resolution (CR) that does not include funding for a border wall or an increase in funding for the deportation agencies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that operate with near impunity. Thirteen members of the Defund Hate…

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 19, 2018) -- Under intense pressure from civil society and Congress in light of an autopsy report which suggested Roxsana Hernández Rodriguez, a transgender woman, was beaten before she died in custody in May, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has published a new web page with notifications of six deaths that occurred in fiscal year 2018. Despite the page’s claim that the brief reports bring ICE into compliance with congressional reporting requirements regarding in-custody deaths, the summaries fall far short of providing any meaningful review of what…

Washington, DC — As Democratic congressional leadership heads to the White House to negotiate Department of Homeland Security funding with President Trump, leading civil rights, faith, immigrant rights, and advocacy organizations called for a rejection of Trump’s border wall and demand cuts in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection in the coming fiscal year. The Defund Hate coalition is comprised of national, state, and local groups totaling millions of people in membership, all of whom urge their elected representatives to heed their ask that they…

Washington, DC — More than 200 non-governmental and advocacy organizations sent a letter to congressional leadership today in advance of the December 7th expiration of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget, calling for bold leadership in support of immigrant communities already suffering under the Trump administration’s bloated immigration enforcement apparatus. Specifically, the letter calls for a short-term continuing resolution that does not increase the DHS budget for FY 2019 during the lame duck session, with a commitment to cut enforcement funds in a permanent spending deal…

Washington, DC — Detention Watch Network (DWN) condemns Trump’s presidential proclamation to unlawfully ban migrants from long-standing asylum protections as the latest attack in his anti-immigrant arsenal. Mary Small, Policy Director of DWN issued the following statement: “Trump’s latest move to unlawfully ban asylum protections falls in line with his administration’s unrelenting anti-immigrant agenda to stoke hate within his white nationalist base. Trump will stop at nothing, including jeopardizing people’s lives and debasing core democratic values, to promote discrimination, repression and…