“It’s hard, you know? What do I really tell these people in detention?” Corado said through tears during a recent conversation at Casa Ruby, her soon-to-open Latino LGBT community center near Howard University. “Segregation is inhuman. And how they’re treated, how they’re abused? It’s inexcusable. Even if they’ve done something wrong, you want the best for these people. But I’ve never seen a case of a transgender detainee who was actually treated like a human being.”
“The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has announced plans to investigate complaints of sexual violence against immigrants in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)”
“The problems at Midwest detention facilities mirror the harsh realities of immigration detention facilities nationwide which are deeply rooted in correctional — rather than civil — practices.”
“Public Advocate Bill de Blasio calls the treatment of immigrants held in city detention centers run by the Geo Group a ticking time bomb.”
“Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and Americans for Immigrant Justice (formerly Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center) filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of Carlyle Dale, a lawful permanent resident of the United States who nearly died from medical neglect while languishing in immigration detention for more than five years. The lawsuit comes after the government refused to grant Mr. Dale reparations for his past and continued suffering.”
“Mr. Caceres fled to the United States from Honduras after suffering rape and torture by gang members on account of his sexual orientation. In July, an immigration judge determined Mr. Caceres was entitled to protection under U.S. law and granted him withholding of removal, a form of immigration status for people who have suffered or fear persecution in their native countries. However, after NIJC attorneys won his case, the government continued to detain Mr. Caceres, claiming it intended to deport him to an alternate country, even though Mr. Caceres has no connection to any other country and thus could not be deported elsewhere. Mr. Caceres filed a habeas petition in the district court in Wisconsin arguing that he was unlawfully detained. Before the court ruled on the petition, DHS released him.”
U.S. Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO), and 36 other members of Congress sent a letter on June 29 to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder calling for investigations into civil rights complaints filed by NIJC in April on behalf of 13 gay and transgender immigrants who suffered discrimination, abuse, and medical neglect in DHS custody.
“Notwithstanding the more detailed findings included throughout the body of this report, one of the IACHR’s main concerns is the increasing use of detention based on a presumption of its necessity, when in fact detention should be the exception.”
“Immigrant advocates nationwide continue to report widespread due process and human rights violations, including the overreliance on incarceration, mistreatment by guards, denial of access to legal service providers, inadequate medical care, misuse of solitary confinement, and discrimination against sexual minorities. These violations demonstrate that the commitment to reform made by ICE leadership has yet to have any substantive impact on the ground.”
“This report gathers more than 15 separate documented incidents and allegations of sexual assault, abuse, or harassment from across the ICE detention system, involving more than 50 alleged detainee victims. This accumulation of reports indicates that the problem cannot be dismissed as a series of isolated incidents, and that there are systemic failures at issue.”
