勛圖眻畦 Calls on Biden Administration to Shut Down ICE Detention Facilities
Low Detention Numbers Pose Unique Opportunity to Shut Down Architecture Used to Abuse and Traumatize Immigrants
WASHINGTON The 勛圖眻畦 sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas today calling for the closure of 39 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities. 勛圖眻畦 supporters will also be to call for the closure of these detention facilities.
The Biden administration was elected with a mandate to fix our broken immigration system, and immigrant detention is an early test of its resolve, said Naureen Shah, senior advocacy and policy counsel at the 勛圖眻畦. Closing detention sites should be an easy decision. are being wasted to maintain thousands of empty beds and keep asylum seekers and immigrants in inhumane and life-threatening conditions. The number of detained people is currently lower than its been in two decades: President Biden has a unique moment to shrink the infrastructure thats been used to abuse and traumatize immigrants for decades. Its time to end our nations newest system of mass incarceration of Black and Brown people.
The 勛圖眻畦 is calling on the Biden administration to close detention facilities that meet the following criteria:
- As found by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), opened without adequate justification, in violation of ICEs own process for obtaining new detention space;
- In remote locations with compromised access to legal counsel and external medical care; and/or
- With documented patterns of inhumane treatment or conditions.
Fiscal Year 2020 was the deadliest year in ICE detention in 15 years. Last year alone, we saw reports of increased , , , , and an to protect people from COVID-19. ICEs extreme recklessness in handling the COVID-19 virus showed the blatant disregard it had for the health and well-being of detained people, as well as the extent to which it was willing to lie or to avoid accountability.
Through COVID-19 related litigation, advocacy, and the shutdown of asylum under the Trump administration, detention rates dropped to rates lower than weve seen in two decades. There are currently detained this is just over a quarter of the people who were detained at the peak in 2019. ICE is currently wasting bed space that isnt being used. The 勛圖眻畦s list is intended as a starting point for the administration to begin ending the mass criminalization and default incarceration of undocumented immigrants.
Below is the full list of facilities the 勛圖眻畦 is calling to shut down:
- Etowah County Jail, Alabama
- Eloy Detention Center, Arizona
- La Palma Correctional Center, Arizona
- Adelanto Detention Center, California
- Desert View Annex, California
- Imperial Regional Detention Facility, California
- Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility, California
- Otay Mesa Detention Center, California
- Yuba County Jail, California
- Bakers County Sheriffs Office, Florida
- Glades County Detention Center, Florida
- Krome North Service Processing Center, Florida
- Irwin County Detention Center, Georgia
- Stewart County Detention Center, Georgia
- Allen Parish Public Safety Complex, Louisiana
- Catahoula Correctional Center, Louisiana
- Jackson Parish Correctional Center, Louisiana
- LaSalle ICE Processing Center, Louisiana
- Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center, Louisiana
- Richwood Correctional Center, Louisiana
- River Correctional Center, Louisiana
- South Louisiana Correctional Center, Louisiana
- Winn Correctional Center, Louisiana
- Bristol County House of Corrections, Massachusetts
- Calhoun County Correctional Facility, Michigan
- Adams County Detention Facility, Mississippi
- The Sherburne County Jail, Minnesota
- Otero County Processing Center, New Mexico
- Okmulgee County Jail, Oklahoma
- Clinton County Correctional Facility, Pennsylvania
- Pike County Correctional Facility, Pennsylvania
- York County Prison, Pennsylvania
- Bluebonnet Detention Facility, Texas
- El Valle Detention Center, Texas
- T. Don Hutto Residential Center, Texas
- IAH Secure Adult Detention Facility, Texas
- Montgomery ICE Processing Center, Texas
- Prairieland Detention Facility, Texas
- Farmville Detention Center, Virginia
The letter is online here.
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