Often times people are confused about immigration detention believing it to be time served for a criminal act. However, that is not correct. Immigration detention is administrative confinement whereby individuals are held for the purpose of insuring that they attend civil immigration proceedings.1
Continue readingCategory Archives: Reasons for HB624
Immigration detention is a massive barrier to justice
Since immigration litigation is a civil matter, many of the constitutional protections that extend to criminal proceedings do not apply to those held in immigration detention. Most of us are accustomed to the idea that people are innocent until proven guilty, that the prosecution bears the burden of proof, that the court will appoint an attorney of the defendant cannot afford one, and that a person has a right to a speedy trial. While those protections extend to criminal matters, they do not apply to civil immigration matters.
Continue readingThe US government says immigration detention is cruel and inhumane
In 2015, the US Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR), the nations watchdog for civil rights issues, reviewed the conditions in ICE and ICE contractor immigration detention facilities. The report is clear that immigration detention is punitive, abusive, and should end.
Continue readingDuring the past two years, 22 migrants died in ICE custody
In a new analysis of dozens of government reports, death reviews and audits of ICE detention centers NBC reports that during the past two years 22 migrants died in ICE custody. One of those deaths, Roxana Hernandez, occurred in New Mexico. An independent autopsy indicates that she suffered blunt force trauma while in ICE custody.
Continue readingImmigration detention facilities in New Mexico are particularly problematic
The United State Commission on Civil Rights determined that ICE and ICE contractor immigration detention facilities are punitive and abusive. New Mexico is host to two ICE immigration detention centers both of which are managed by large private prison corporations: Core Civic owns and manages Cibola County Correctional Center (CCCC) in Milan while Management and Training Corporation (MTC) manages the Otero County Processing Center (OCPC) in Chaparral. Government and advocacy reports indicate that these facilities are particularly problematic.
Continue readingNew Mexico won’t look the other way on border issues
On December 27, 2018 the Santa Fe New Mexican ran an editorial that directly addressed the immediate and dire need for immigration detention oversight while highlighting the importance of closing ICE detention centers in the state.
Continue readingSexual abuse and harassment are chronic issues at ICE immigration detention facilities
DHS and ICE documents indicate that inside immigration detention facilities, sexual assault and abuse are chronic issues that largely go uninvestigated.
Continue readingICE inspections of detention centers don’t improve facility conditions
ICE detention centers are annually inspected either by ICE or private firms they contract. Yet DHS Office of Inspector General recently concluded that ICE inspections were ineffective. There is no independent monitoring of ICE facilities and annual inspections are announced beforehand.
Continue readingIncarceration facilities don’t make for sound rural development
The belief that placing incarceration facilities in rural areas stimulates local rural economies is a myth that was developed and perpetuated during the prison boom of the 1980s-1990s. Quantitative and demographic studies show that prison hosting, and by extension immigration detention center hosing, is a strain on local economies. All across the US, prison hosting raises unemployment in small towns and rural communities.
Continue readingICE permits and encourages unfair labor practices at immigration detention centers in New Mexico
Individuals held in immigration detention typically do not have work authorization. However, ICE detention standard 5.8 defines a “Voluntary Work Program” whereby detained individuals can earn a minimum of $1 per eight our work day.1 On 21 December 2017 “a majority of the USCCR voted to call on Congress to investigate alleged abusive labor practices at government- and privately-operated immigration detention centers and require fair wages for all detainees”2
Continue reading