Injustice is not by accident, but rather by design

Los Angeles, CA - Today, Freedom for Immigrants in collaboration with 18 other leading grassroots organizations throughout California is launching the Statewide Days of Visitation and Action.  

 Between January 17th and 20th, we will be coordinating visits to the Adelanto Detention Facility and the Otay Detention Facility, two privately-run immigrant prisons in California.  We also will be holding community screenings of the recently-released film, Just Mercy, and panel discussions to raise awareness of the impact of mass incarceration and deportation on our communities.

5 South Asian men in detention reach 75th day of hunger strike

Media Contacts: Rebekah Entralgo rentralgo@freedomforimmigrants.org

JENA, LOUISIANA -- Five South Asian men have reached the 75th day of a hunger strike in the  GEO Group-operated LaSalle Detention Facility in Jena, Louisiana where they have been subjected to the tortuous procedure of forced-hydration and force-feeding. According to medical professionals, 75 days without adequate nutrition is when vital organs begin to fail.

Final Spending Bill Means More Immigration Detention in 2020

On December 19, the Senate voted to approve a government spending package for FY2020. In response, Freedom for Immigrants and Detention Watch Network released the following statement: 

“The final spending package includes an increase in the gross budget authorities for both Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The bill also did not place any limitations on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) ability to transfer funds between accounts, meaning that the agency can continue to raid accounts to finance expansion of immigration detention beyond congressionally appropriated levels. 

Immigrant Rights Advocates Celebrate Reinstated Visitation Program at Etowah Detention Center Following Public Pressure & Cease and Desist Letter

GADSDEN, ALABAMA – In response to a letter addressed to Etowah County Sheriff Jonathon Horton signed by 62 community organizations and a cease and desist letter issued by Freedom for Immigrants on behalf of the Etowah Visitation Project, visitation has resumed at the Etowah Detention Center. 

Defund Hate Campaign on Appropriations Bill: Allowing Unchecked Spending by ICE and CBP Will Fuel Further Abuse and Deaths of Immigrants

Washington, DC — On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1158 (116), which will allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue expanding its detention and deportation force. The bill allows ICE and CBP to continue taking money from other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies and gifts DHS $1.37 billion to continue building deadly border walls. 

FY20 Spending Bill Will Lead to Immigration Detention Expansion

Media Contact: Rebekah Entralgo, rentralgo@freedomforimmigrants.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WASHINGTON, DC — Freedom for Immigrants urges Congress to reject a spending bill that will expand the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) detention and deportation apparatus. 

Under the proposed FY20 spending bill, both Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) budgets are higher than FY19, with CBP receiving an additional $1.375 billion for the Trump administration’s border wall construction. While ICE’s funding for detention is at the same levels as FY19, the bill proposes an overall budget increase for the agency, from $7.9 billion in FY2019 to a proposed $8.4 billion. Critically, the proposed FY2020 spending bill places no restriction on the administration’s transfer authority. As a result,the already record amount of funding for immigration detention could increase even more. The administration can continue to re-appropriate funds from other DHS agencies — as it has with FEMA, the Coast Guard, and the Department of Defense in the past — to fund its detention and deportation machine. 

Although the bill also includes oversight and transparency measures — including the creation of an Immigration Detention Ombudsman — a $20 million funding increase for the Office of Inspector General, increased reporting requirements for DHS, and access to immigrant detention facilities by Members of Congress without prior notice, these measures lack enforcement mechanisms. Without robust means to hold DHS accountable, we fear that we will see a continuation of long-standing patterns of abuse. 

“Freedom for Immigrants urges members of Congress to stand with immigrants and vote against a budget that will result in the expansion of an abuse-laden system of mass detention,” said Sarah Gardiner, Policy Director at Freedom for Immigrants.