COVID-19 Rates in ICE Detention are at Record Highs. Advocates are Demanding an Investigation.

COVID-19 Rates in ICE Detention are at Record Highs. Advocates are Demanding an Investigation.

Operated by the for-profit prison company The GEO Group, this ICE Detention Center is accused by the ACLU of medical neglect and mistreatment of inmates. – Aurora, Colorado / USA – 9/21/19 (Shutterstock) By Katy Murdza, Immigration Impact The Omicron variant has spread through immigration detention like wildfire, with a record 14% of people in […]

Human Rights Violator Sentenced in Guatemala to 30 Years for Crimes Against Humanity, Previously Investigated and Removed by ICE

Guatemalan national convicted for participation in wartime sexual violence of indigenous women.

Human Rights Violator Sentenced in Guatemala to 30 Years for Crimes Against Humanity, Previously Investigated and Removed by ICE

WASHINGTON – A Guatemalan national previously removed to his home country by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) was convicted in a Guatemalan court for his role in sexual violence targeting indigenous women in the 1980s. Francisco Cuxum Alvarado, 66, was convicted of crimes against humanity by a High-Risk Court […]

The Biden Administration is on the Wrong Side in This Crucial Supreme Court Immigration Case

A case before the court will determine whether immigrants have access to a bond hearing to justify detention, and whether advocates can use a critical tool to bring them relief.

The Biden Administration is on the Wrong Side in This Crucial Supreme Court Immigration Case

By Michael Tan, ACLU On January 11, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Garland v. Gonzalez, the latest in a series of cases the court has taken on immigration detention. The case presents a basic question: whether the federal government can lock immigrants up, for months or even years, without a hearing to determine […]

U.S. Immigration Agents to Pilot Use of Body-worn Cameras

U.S. Immigration Agents to Pilot Use of Body-worn Cameras

Body camera being worn by police officers in London, to keep officers safe, enabling situation awareness, improving community relations and providing evidence for trials. – London, UK. 26th June 2019 (Shutterstock) By Mica Rosenberg, Reuters U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is rolling out a pilot program to test the feasibility of requiring immigration agents […]

ICE Begins Mass Mailing Court Notices to Asylum Seekers Released at the Border

ICE Begins Mass Mailing Court Notices to Asylum Seekers Released at the Border

By Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Immigration Impact Since President Biden took office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have released over 250,000 people seeking asylum directly at the border. In nearly half of these cases, people were not released with a formal “Notice to Appear” in immigration court. Instead, officers gave them a “Notice to Report” […]

DHS Issues New Memo Restricting Enforcement Activities in ‘Protected Areas’

DHS Issues New Memo Restricting Enforcement Activities in ‘Protected Areas’

By Rebekah Wolf, Immigration Impact The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued “Guidelines for Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas”—a new memo that provides a framework for when and where DHS law enforcement entities can conduct enforcement activities in sensitive locations. The memo applies to enforcement activities of both U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement […]

Ninth Circuit Lifts Injunction Protecting People in ICE Detention from COVID-19

Ninth Circuit Lifts Injunction Protecting People in ICE Detention from COVID-19

By Rebekah Wolf, Immigration Impact In a split decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on October 20 lifted a lower court’s protections for medically vulnerable people locked up in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The protections included requiring that ICE adhere to public health and safety protocols […]

ICE Fails to Provide Basic Oversight of Solitary Confinement and Unlawfully Destroys Records

ICE Fails to Provide Basic Oversight of Solitary Confinement  and Unlawfully Destroys Records

Demonstrators call to “Free Them All” during an Abolish ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) protest for Javier Maradiaga on February 15, 2021 in New York City. (Shutterstock) By Emily Creighton U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been known to improperly subject individuals in its custody to solitary confinement and has destroyed solitary confinement records […]

Students and Advocates Demand LexisNexis End ICE Contract

Students and Advocates Demand LexisNexis End ICE Contract

By Deanna Garcia, Undocumented NY About 30 law school students and immigrant advocates gathered in front of the LexisNexis office in Midtown East on Thursday to protest the legal research firm’s $16.8 million contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Demonstrators are asking for an end to ICE contracts and urging New York University  and other law schools […]

Lawsuit Challenges new law Closing Immigrant Detention Center in Tacoma

Lawsuit Challenges new law Closing Immigrant Detention Center in Tacoma

By Nina Shapiro, Seattle Times The GEO Group, a huge private prison corporation, is suing the state, claiming a new law mandating the closure of the immigrant detention center it runs in Tacoma would unconstitutionally subvert federal authority. Not only does the law enacted by the Legislature in March interfere with a contract signed between […]