Immigration advocates in California and around the country are deeply alarmed over the legality of a newly announced $19 million contract between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the GEO Group, Inc. to continue the operations of the Mesa Verde Detention Facility in Bakersfield, California.

The State Attorney General’s office released its first report today on immigration detention conditions in California, which found that immigrants face prolonged periods of confinement, significant language barriers, medical and mental health access issues, visitation and communication obstacles, and lack of access to legal representation.

Freedom for Immigrants is excited to introduce Liz Wilson and Elizabeth Torres, two new staff members who will be leading our Alternatives to Detention program as part of our mission to end U.S. immigration detention.

Over 70 legal service providers, advocacy organizations and community groups in Northern California are calling for transparency regarding the fate of individuals detained at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center (also referred to as the Mesa Verde Detention Facility).

Freedom for Immigrants is deeply alarmed by a report released by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General, which found “serious issues relating to safety, security, and environmental health that require ICE’s immediate attention” at the Essex County Correctional Facility, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Newark, New Jersey.

The president’s audacity to plan to declare a national emergency just to get his border wall is a reckless use of executive power.

It is unconscionable to give in to the President’s demands at the expense of immigrant communities across the country.

Today, Freedom for Immigrants relaunched IMMPRINT, its online media outlet, which focuses on news about immigration detention, investigative reporting, and storytelling.