FFI: ICE’s Horrifying Mass Disappearance Policy is an Alarming Escalation of Long-Standing Practice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@freedomforimmigrants.org 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following the government’s new policy of concealing the whereabouts of thousands of immigrants who are subject to final deportation orders, which reflects an expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) long-standing practice of disappearing people through its immigration detention system, Laura Hernández, executive director of Freedom for Immigrants, released the following statement:

“This administration’s nauseating new policy of systematically concealing the whereabouts of thousands of people reflects an alarming escalation of the government’s long-standing practice of committing disappearances through its immigration detention system. Disappearing thousands of community members en masse makes a mockery of due process and enables the government to subject countless more people to torturous conditions inside black box detention sites both at home and abroad. The policy will result in more deportations of people to dangerous and even deadly conditions and subject countless families to the uniquely horrific and lasting psychological anguish of not knowing the whereabouts and condition of a loved one. 

“The policy unveiled last week exacerbates ICE’s established practice of routinely committing disappearances. Freedom for Immigrants has documented hundreds of cases of such enforced disappearances over the years and has worked with families to locate their loved ones. The ICE Locator – the main tool provided to families to locate their loved ones – has long been riddled with problems and has now become so erroneous that it routinely fails to identify and locate people in ICE custody, systematically obstructing access to legal counsel, human rights monitoring, and essential familial connection and support. We are sounding the alarm: This government is actively suppressing our rights, silencing its victims, and going to new and extreme lengths to erase its monstrous abuses from the public record. We will not stand by. We demand the immediate release of all community members, the permanent closure of deadly detention camps, and for all government actors to be held to account for their heinous actions.” 

Those seeking to find their loved ones in detention can consult FFI’s toolkit, Lost in the U.S. immigration detention system. 

BACKGROUND: Disappearances in Immigration Detention and Problems with the ICE Locator

  • Freedom for Immigrants’ 2021 report on disappearances found that the United States is engaged in a pattern and practice of regularly disappearing immigrants in its federal immigration detention system. ICE, the primary federal agency responsible for detaining immigrants, commits what the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner terms “enforced disappearances” through its “refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty” of people who remain in its custody. 

  • The report documents nearly 700 instances of enforced disappearances in the U.S. immigration detention system between 2017 and 2021:

    • 424 enforced disappearances of immigrants reported by families and advocates from 2017-2021.

    • More than half of these enforced disappearances followed a transfer, including individual transfers between ICE facilities, mass transfers between ICE facilities, and transfers from law enforcement custody to immigration detention.

    • 216 enforced disappearances documented by FFI staff in which an individual’s name could not be found via the ICE Locator for more than five days (between April 2020 and August 2021).

    • 58 instances of enforced disappearances documented by FFI staff in which an individual’s name produced “zero matching records” for more than five days or longer (between April 2020 and August 2021).

  • The government often disappears people following instances of protest or advocacy. ICE regularly retaliates against those who speak out against the agency’s abuses. In many of the instances documented in the report, advocates were unable to locate someone in immigration detention after a detained person participated in advocacy or protest. 

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Freedom for Immigrants is an abolitionist organization working to end immigration incarceration by organizing with and following the leadership of currently and formerly incarcerated immigrants. We’re building a future in which all people can move freely and thrive. Learn more at www.freedomforimmigrants.org/.