#immigrant detention center

[plethoraworldatlas]

Citing ample evidence of human rights abuses in U.S. immigration detention centers, 200 advocacy groups on Thursday demanded that the Biden administration reverse course on a planned expansion of detention facilities and said President Joe Biden's "further entrenching" of the government's reliance on detaining migrants marks "an utter betrayal" of his campaign promises.

The president's signing of a spending bill last month provided $3.4 billion for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), clearing the way for the agency to make space to jail 41,500 immigrants per day in facilities across the country.

After Biden campaigned on ending the use of for-profit detention centers, said the groups, he took office at a time when fewer than 15,000 people were being held in immigration detention facilities—which gave him "a remarkable opportunity to wind down a wasteful and abusive system."

But after the president's 2023 and 2024 budget requests signaled an intention of reducing detention funding—with ICE itself recommending that numerous facilities be closed due to "critical staffing shortages that have led to safety risks and unsanitary living conditions"—Biden last year requested supplemental detention funding as commentators and Republicans in Congress hammered the administration for allowing so-called "chaos" at the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Your FY2025 budget request sought funding for 34,000 beds instead of the 25,000 sought in the two previous cycles," wrote the groups, including Amnesty International USA, the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), and the Texas Civil Rights Project. "The result is unsurprising: the FY2024 spending bill you signed provides ICE $3.4 billion to jail an average of 41,500 immigrants per day, historically high funding surpassing all four years of the Trump administration."

...

Biden signed the spending bill two weeks after Charles Daniel, a 61-year-old migrant from Trinidad and Tobago, died at a detention center operated by the private contractor GEO Group after being held in solitary confinement for four years. ICE has placed people in solitary confinement over 14,000 times in the last five years, according to PHR, for an average of 27 days each; U.N. experts say exceeding 15 days in solitary confinement constitutes torture.

[dykesynthezoid]

Highly suggest that ahead of Trump’s second term you check this map on freedomforimmigrants.org to see if there are any immigration detention centers in your area. It’s going to be really important to keep an eye on these places, and a lot of people are completely unaware when they exist in their proximity.

[plethoraworldatlas]

The Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (OIG) published a report last month finding that nearly one-third of medical procedures performed on immigrants in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody were not properly authorized.

The report found that ICE improperly authorized 32% of major surgeries performed on individuals in ICE detention without having gone through the proper procedure first. Due to ICE’s improper authorization, the OIG audit could not verify whether the surgeries were medically necessary. The report also suggests that the forced hysterectomies performed by medical staff to women detained at the Irwin Detention Center in Georgia were not isolated incidents.

One of the issues noted in the report was that approval for these medical procedures was not given by the appropriate medical staff. According to the report, the ICE Health Service Corp (IHSC), which provides medical services to people in ICE detention, requires major surgeries to be authorized by certain personnel with a specific level of training and expertise. They must have a medical degree or equivalent and at least three years of medical training leading to board eligibility or certification that distinguishes them from other medical practitioners.

The OIG’s review of a sample of 227 surgery reports found that in only 72 of them, the surgeries were approved by the appropriate level of personnel, such as nurses or nurse practitioners.

[onlytiktoks]

[usadvlottery]

Immigrant Legal Aid Policies in the United States encompass a set of regulations and initiatives designed to provide legal assistance and support to individuals navigating the complex immigration system. These policies aim to ensure that immigrants, regardless of their status, have access to fair representation, information, and resources. Legal aid organizations collaborate with government agencies, pro bono attorneys, and community partners to offer services such as legal consultations, representation in immigration court proceedings, and advocacy for the protection of immigrants' rights. These policies reflect the commitment to upholding the principles of justice, fairness, and inclusive, recognizing the importance of a robust legal framework to address the diverse needs of the immigrant population in the United States.

[the-psudo]

The government can and will put immigrants and citizens into internment camps that also qualify as concentration camps due to the population concentrated in a small area. They've done it before, and I expect they'll do it again sometime in the next four years. I'm not sure that Trump specifically will be able do create a Guantanamo Bay concentration camp specifically, because he's pretty inept, because the people who run Guantanamo Bay are extremely not, and because Cuba will undoubtedly interfere and resist. I think, like Trump's wall, it will remain largely unenacted at the end of Trump's term. But it's about 70:30 odds, nothing like a sure thing. And this particular project's failure, even if it does fail, will not be because Trump has moral principles against treating anyone so badly. Trump absolutely will treat people, including US citizens, every bit as badly as the Japanese (and Koreans) were treated in the internment camps of the 1940s. That's a given.

A reminder to the "the American government wouldn't..." crowd. They have. They have made their own internment camps before. They have rounded up innocent citizens and immigrants before. The victims of which are still alive to this day and trying to share their stories with the world, they have been trying to warn us for a long time. George Takei (as seen above) is a famous example of this. He has written about his experiences time and time again, even publishing a book talking about his time in these camps. He may be famous now, but at the time he was just another kid forced from his home. To this day he still firmly dedicates himself to trying to educate and inform people, trying to spread awareness with his platform. The American Government can and will do terrible things. Do not let anyone convince you otherwise.

[docholligay]

So for all of you who think nothing matters:

We have a local, I guess I'll call it an events complex. It's where concerts and the fair go. It's owned by the city.

When Trump started the whole ICE thing, our commissioner sent a letter to the local representatives, telling them they could use it as a detention center for illegal immigrants. Our event center. Where the 4H kids show their fuckin' lambs.

"The fuck you will" was the resounding reply.

So, when I talk about coalition-building, and working with people you do not agree with or maybe even like, this is what I'm talking about. There was an immediate and vocal show of disapproval, from all sides. We all contacted people we knew would dislike this, REGARDLESS OF HOW THEY FELT ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE. The meeting was packed with people yelling at the commissioners. Of all political stripes. Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Prairie Populist, Independent.

Some were, of course, the tumblr-style arguments about inherent humanity, but--I think more compellingly if you're actually trying to put the pressure on--there were questions of, 'How are we gonna get paid?" "Are you aware of how, as the only event center for more than two hours, much fuckin money this brings into the community? ANd that immigrants of all types make up less than 2% of the population of the entire state?(my argument), "Do we trust the government to pay us?", "Isn't there a fuckin' empty prison in [town about an hour from here]? Are you just being a kiss-ass?' (offered up by a man I know to be very conservative indeed. BUT HE DID NOT WANT OUR SPACE USED FOR THIS) and, an argument that was so good I was infuriated I didn't come up with it, "DO you think the bank is gonna want to be known as the sponsor of "National bank Detention Center?" (Which caught on and the bank had to offer up a letter saying how they hoped the commissioners would use the event center as intended.)

They folded. A letter came out a few days ago from the manager of the event center, saying it was decided that the events center would rescind the offer, as "more acceptable alternatives could be found." They blinked.

That's the thing. All that happened is that a bunch of people got mad an went to ONE TWO HOUR MEETING. It changed everything.

SHOW. UP.

[head-post]

Italy sends rejected migrants to detention hubs in Albania

Italian authorities said on Friday they were transferring 40 migrants without permission to stay in the country to Italian-run migrant detention centres in Albania. It appears to be the first time a European Union country has sent rejected migrants to a country outside the EU that is neither their own nor the country they passed through on their journey, ABC News reported.

Italian media reported that the migrants left the Italian port of Brindisi. The Italian government did not give their nationality or other details.

The migrants will be held in Italian-built and operated migrant centres in the port of Shengjin, 66 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of the capital Tirana, and in Gjader. They were built to handle asylum requests for migrants intercepted by Italy in the Mediterranean Sea. But since they opened in October, Italian courts have barred authorities from using them, and small groups of migrants have been returned to Italy.

It is unclear how long rejected asylum seekers can stay in Albania. In Italy, they can be detained for up to 18 months pending deportation.

Last month, Italy’s national oriented government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, approved a decree that expanded the use of Albanian asylum fast-track centres to include detention of rejected asylum seekers.

While the announcement was in line with a recent EU Commission proposal that would allow EU countries to establish so-called “return hubs,” the proposal has not yet been fully approved. Migrant rights organisations and lawyers say it violates the right to asylum and sets a dangerous precedent.

Migration experts consulted by The Associated Press say it is unclear how legal Italy’s action is and that it is likely to be challenged in court.

“They need to show they are doing something with this incredibly expensive structure,” Meghan Benton of the Migration Policy Institute said. Speaking from Toulouse, France, Benton said other EU countries are interested in doing the same, including the Netherlands and Uganda.

Francesco Ferri, a migration expert from Action Aid who was among a group of non-governmental organisations and Italian lawmakers who visited Albania to track the movement of migrants, said there was no legislation in Italian law, EU law or the Albania-Italy agreement that would allow rejected asylum seekers to be deported directly from Albania, making the purpose of the movement unclear.

“For us it is unacceptable,” Ferri said.

The Albanian centres opened in October, but they are barely operational because of legal obstacles and widespread opposition from human rights associations, which say they violate international laws and put migrants’ rights at risk.

An agreement between Italy and Albania signed in November 2023, worth about 800 million euros over five years, allows up to 3,000 migrants intercepted by the Italian coastguard in international waters to be granted asylum in Albania each month and screened for asylum in Italy or repatriation.

Italy has agreed to accept those migrants who will be granted asylum, while those whose applications are rejected face deportation directly from Albania.

The first three groups of 73 migrants transferred there in October, November and January spent only a few hours in Albania and were returned to Italy after Italian judges refused to confirm their detention in the non-EU country.

This year, 11,438 migrants have landed on Italian shores, down from 16,090 who arrived during the same period last year. Most came from Bangladesh, followed by Syria, Tunisia and Egypt, according to Italy’s interior ministry.

Read more HERE

[youthchronical]

Trump Administration Revives Detention of Immigrant Families

For decades, detaining undocumented immigrant families has been a contentious enforcement tactic. Critics of “family detention” have said young children suffer in confinement. Proponents say that locking families up while they await likely deportation sends a stark message about the consequences of entering the United States illegally. Now, after falling out of use under the Biden administration,…

[firstoccupier]

The Expanding Landscape of Detention: A Look at the Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center

In a marvelous twist of bureaucratic verbosity, a memorandum has emerged from the depths of policy-making obscurity, heralding the expansion of the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to full capacity. One can almost hear the distant echoes of “national sovereignty” and “border invasion” reverberating through the halls of power as the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary…

[plethoraworldatlas]

Human rights advocates see the Biden administration’s expansion of detention-reliant immigration enforcement as a betrayal, guided by political headwinds rather than operational necessities.

In a letter to President Biden delivered Thursday, 200 organizations voiced “outrage over your administration’s expansion of the cruel and unnecessary immigration detention system.”

The groups, most of them longtime opponents of the practice of immigration detention, are incensed over skyrocketing detention spending, with $3.4 billion destined to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention bed space in the $1.2 trillion federal spending package Biden signed in March.

“Our organizations work with and advocate on behalf of people who have experienced immigration detention. They carry life long scars from the mistreatment and dehumanization they endured because of the United States’ reliance on detention, mostly through private prisons and county jails. Your administration is further entrenching this reliance, marking an utter betrayal of your campaign promises,” wrote the groups.

...

“The system your administration is expanding is riddled with abuse and impunity. Your senior officials have been aware of these significant human rights concerns since day one. ICE’s jails and prisons operate under insufficient standards with inspections that are notorious for covering up deficiencies,” wrote the groups, which include Amnesty International USA, the National Immigrant Justice Center, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and the International Refugee Assistance Project.

“Inadequate medical care results in deaths; LGBTQ individuals in custody suffer homophobic and transphobic harassment and abuse; basic sanitation is often lacking; Black immigrants face unaffordable bonds and violence at disparately high rates; and ICE’s use of solitary confinement regularly meets the United Nations’ definition of torture.”

[subdee]

Just an extremely Normal thing to say

Reminder they want to increase the budget for ICE from 3.5 to 45 billion dollars.

Reminder the majority of that will be for building new detention centers.

Reminder ICE are *currently* detaining tourists who can pay for a plane ticket home and people with visa issues that were already resolved, because they have to make quota so Trump can brag about the numbers going up.

Reminder most of these people were already in the immigration system - that's why they were easy to detain.

Reminder this is all at taxpayer expense.

Reminder these are people.