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.

READ MORE

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.

READ MORE

All Detention Content

  • Blog

Newly-Released Government Docs Reveal Dangerous Flaws in Immigration Detention Contracting

August 26, 2015

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) released government documents this month that expose the severe lack of accountability in the immigration detention system. NIJC’s Immigration...

  • Blog

Government Ordered to Promptly Release Children From Family Detention

August 24, 2015

In a decision issued Friday, a district court in California ruled yet again that the government is violating a long-standing settlement agreement protecting the rights of children in immigration...

  • Blog

Government Doubles Down on Locking Up Immigrant Mothers and Children

August 10, 2015

The government continued to defend its widespread detention of asylum-seeking women and children in documents filed last week in the Flores case. Advocates went to court in February to argue that...

  • Blog

ICE’s Computerized Detention Decision-Maker Can’t Work Because of Mandatory Detention Laws

August 4, 2015

In January 2013, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) implemented the “Risk Classification Assessment” (RCA)—a computerized tool that analyzes evidence and recommends whether to detain...

  • Blog

Insider Speaks Out Alongside Formerly Detained Mothers Seeking Protection in the U.S.

July 30, 2015

At a congressional briefing held earlier this week, Dr. Olivia López spoke out about her experiences as a former social worker at the Karnes family detention center alongside formerly detained...

  • Blog

Judge’s Order in Flores Should Signal the End of Family Detention

July 27, 2015

A federal judge issued an order in the Flores case that should go a long way to ending the government’s practice of detaining children and their mothers in unlicensed, secure facilities in Dilley...

  • Blog

Evidence Shows Asylum Seekers Appear for Court with Alternatives to Detention and Legal Assistance

July 22, 2015

When thousands of Central American families fled violence to the United States last year, the Administration responded by opening family detention centers, which are detaining mothers and children...

  • Blog

New Memo on Detained Transgender Immigrants Does Not Go Far Enough

July 6, 2015

U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) will shift its policies regarding transgender adult detainees in its custody according to a memo released last week. While the changes seem positive,...

  • Blog

Why Our Humanitarian Obligations to Children Crossing the Border Still Matter

June 26, 2015

Last summer, the flow of Central Americans seeking refuge in the United States—many of them children—reached its height. One of the government’s first responses to the increased numbers was to...

  • Blog

Members of Congress Report on Texas Family Detention Center Visits

June 24, 2015

Earlier this week, eight Democratic House Members took a trip to Dilley and Karnes, Texas to visit two immigrant family detention facilities and meet with women and children detained there. Dozens...

  • Blog

Immigrants Are Dying in ICE Custody, So We’re Demanding an Investigation

June 4, 2018

The government has a longstanding history of failing to provide adequate medical and mental health care to immigrants detained in the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, CO. This...

  • Blog

What Happens When Migrant Children Are Taken Into U.S. Custody?

May 29, 2018

The glut of stories surfacing about family separation and the increasing number of migrant children being taken into U.S. custody is deeply concerning. In the past, children detained in shelters...

  • Blog

Undocumented Parents Trying to Reunite With Their Children May Face Deportation Under New Proposal

May 11, 2018

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may soon be checking the immigration status of all potential sponsors of children who arrive unaccompanied at the U.S border, as well as any adult members...

  • Blog

Government to Criminally Prosecute More Migrants and Separate Them From Their Children

May 8, 2018

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced they will be stepping up prosecutions of individuals along the southern border. There is much folly in deciding...

  • Press Release

Increase in Border Prosecutions Will Separate More Families

May 7, 2018
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Thomas Homan announced today that the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security will be stepping up prosecutions of individuals along the southern border—likely resulting in the criminalization of asylum seekers and more family separation.
  • Blog

Government’s Detention of Pregnant Women Questioned by Immigration Groups

May 3, 2018

The government continues the appalling practice of detaining pregnant women, most of whom are seeking safety and protection in the United States. Following an official policy change by Immigration...

  • Blog

New Border Policies Could Have a Big Impact on Families, Children, and Asylum Seekers

April 10, 2018

Undocumented immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border increasingly consist of asylum seekers fleeing record levels of violence in Central America. But the Trump administration’s response to this...

  • Blog

Immigration Groups Demand Records Related to Family Separation at the Border

April 5, 2018

To shed light on the cruel and unlawful practice of family separation, a group of immigrant rights organizations filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests to multiple government...

  • Blog

Migrant Caravan Making Its Way North to Be Greeted By a Complex Web of Immigration Laws

April 3, 2018

Slowing making their way north through Mexico is a large caravan of migrants searching for safe haven, an opportunity to work, or the chance to reunite with family. Some will remain in Mexico,...

  • FOIA

Family Separation FOIA Request

The requests ask for policies, guidelines, or procedures followed or used by the governmental agencies to address the processing and treatment of families at the U.S.-Mexico border and specifically, the separation of adult family members from minor children and the criminal prosecution of adult family members.

Most Read

  • Publications
  • Blog Posts
  • Past:
  • Trending