Detention

Recent Features

COMPLAINT
Complaint Urges Investigation Into Misuse of Solitary Confinement in Colorado Immigration Detention Center

We demand an investigation into ICE's use of solitary confinement to punish and control people detained at the Aurora Detention Center in Colorado.

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FACT SHEET
Alternatives to Immigration Detention: An Overview

The United States can and should implement alternatives to detention that serve to reduce the overall detention population.

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FACT SHEET
U.S. Citizen Children Impacted by Immigration Enforcement

Deportations of parents and family members have serious consequences that affect children and extend to communities and the country as a whole.

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All Detention Content

  • Blog

Why “Family Detention” is a Misnomer

September 2, 2016

More than two years after the Obama Administration launched its aggressive expansion of family detention in an attempt to “deter” the arrival of asylum-seeking Central American families, numerous...

  • Blog

Government Admits Providing False Information to Supreme Court

August 31, 2016

Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to the Supreme Court alerting the Justices that it had provided the Court with incorrect information regarding how long certain noncitizens...

  • Blog

Lengthy Detention and Reprehensible Conditions in Border Patrol Facilities, New Evidence Shows

August 18, 2016

Each year, the Border Patrol—a division of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—holds hundreds of thousands of individuals in detention facilities near the U.S. southern border. These...

  • Blog

Why 22 Mothers Are On a Hunger Strike at the Berks Family Detention Facility

August 15, 2016

In protest of their families’ ongoing and prolonged detention in the Berks County Residential Center, a group of mothers began a hunger strike on Monday, August 8. They penned a letter to...

  • Blog

Government’s Treatment of Asylum Seekers Falling Short

August 10, 2016

Human Rights First (HRF) and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) each released reports this month detailing the flawed treatment of asylum seekers in the United States...

  • Blog

Supreme Court to Consider Whether DHS Can Subject Noncitizens to Prolonged, Mandatory Detention

July 11, 2016

Last month, the Supreme Court announced that, in fall 2016, it will hear arguments in Jennings v. Rodriguez, a challenge to the prolonged detention of noncitizens in removal proceedings. At issue...

  • Blog

Ninth Circuit Decision Should Prompt End to Family Detention

July 8, 2016

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the Flores Settlement (a 1997 agreement that set legal standards for the detention and release of immigrant children) applies to both...

  • Blog

Photographic Evidence of Conditions in CBP’s Short-Term Detention Facilities “Hieleras” Revealed

June 30, 2016

A judge in Arizona unsealed photographs central to ongoing litigation challenging deplorable and unconstitutional conditions in Border Patrol’s short-term detention facilities in the Tucson Sector...

  • Blog

Detention of Transgender Immigrants Expanding with Texas Facility

June 3, 2016

The massive immigrant detention industry is still growing. According to officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the government is adding to its existing 637 facilities by opening...

  • Blog

Public Radio Report Mischaracterizes U.S. Asylum Process

May 31, 2016

Media outlets are reporting on the uptick in the number of individuals crossing the southern border into the U.S. This trend is not surprising given the ongoing violence in Central America. The...

  • Blog

No Freedom, Education, or Privacy: Over 2,000 Immigrant Children Detained at the Homestead Shelter

July 23, 2019

Over 2,000 immigrant children are being detained by the Trump administration at a “temporary emergency” facility in Homestead, Florida. All of the children at the facility have been designated by...

  • Blog

Advocates Seek Information About a Secretive Program That Fast-Tracks Deportations

July 19, 2019

Since the mid-1980s, immigration courts have operated the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP). The program is designed to quickly deport people serving criminal sentences. Despite how long it’s...

  • Blog

ICE Quietly Expands Immigration Detention in the Deep South

July 18, 2019

While members of Congress were struggling to reach a bipartisan deal in February in order to end the government shutdown, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quietly expanded its...

  • FOIA Litigation

FOIA Lawsuit Demands Release of Information on the Institutional Hearing Program

This FOIA lawsuit sought information from the EOIR on the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP), which it runs jointly with ICE and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
  • Blog

Certain Detained Asylum Seekers Must Receive a Bond Hearing Within 7 Days, Despite Trump Administration’s Efforts

July 3, 2019

Attorney General William Barr announced in April 2019 plans to eliminate bond hearings for immigrants who pass an asylum screening interview after entering the United States. This would have...

  • Press Release

Newly Released Documents and Personal Testimonies Provide Evidence of Systematic Family Separations a Year After the End of Zero-Tolerance Policy

June 22, 2019
Newly obtained documents from the Department of Health and Human Services released today by immigrant rights groups and The Houston Chronicle show that migrant children continued to be separated from their parents at the border nearly one year after the end of the “zero tolerance” policy.
  • Blog

No Help “Unless We’re Dying.” Immigrants Present Evidence of Inadequate Medical Care in Detention

June 11, 2019

As the Trump administration ramps up efforts to expand immigration detention in the United States, many detained immigrants continue to suffer behind bars due to woefully inadequate medical and...

  • Advocacy

Inadequate Medical Care at Colorado Immigration Detention Continues

June 11, 2019
New evidence shows the woefully inadequate medical and mental health care in an immigration detention center in Aurora, Colorado. Here are some of the detainees’ experiences we documented:
  • Blog

‘What’s Next? Drinking Water?’ Government Cuts English Classes, Recreation for Immigrant Children in Shelters

June 6, 2019

The Trump administration is cutting funds for educational programs, recreation, and legal services for unaccompanied children who are waiting to be placed with a sponsor in the United States. The...

  • Blog

People Forced to Stand on Toilets, Wear Soiled Clothing for Days at Border Patrol Facility

June 4, 2019

The post People Forced to Stand on Toilets, Wear Soiled Clothing for Days at Border...

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