Immigration advocates from Florida, New Jersey and Texas voice opposition to expansion of immigration detention system
Washington, DC – A wide range of faith, immigrant rights, and
community-based organizations joined Detention Watch Network (DWN)
today to announce the launch of its “Dignity, Not Detention” campaign,
calling on Congress to repeal all laws mandating the detention of
immigrants.
The announcement marks the 15-year anniversary of the passage of the
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA)
of 1996, legislation that dramatically increased the number of people
subject to mandatory detention. The law requires the government to
lock up immigrants, including legal permanent residents who have lived
in the U.S. their entire lives and asylum seekers seeking refuge in
the U.S., without the right to due process.
“Everyone deserves fair and equal treatment under the law, regardless
of their immigration status,” said Silky Shah, Field Organizer for
DWN. “But for the past 15 years, mandatory detention has denied
countless people the right to a fair day in court, tearing apart
families and communities across the country, and fueling the expansion
of a broken immigration detention system.”
For the past six months, newlyweds Hope and Nazry Mustakim have
suffered the dire consequences of mandatory detention. Nazry, a
31-year-old legal permanent resident from Singapore, has been detained
at the South Texas Detention Center in Pearsall, Texas since March,
when Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Nazry into custody and
started deportation proceedings based on a conviction for a felony
drug possession committed half a decade ago.
Under IIRIRA, Mustakim’s drug possession charge makes him subject to
mandatory detention while he pursues his legal case despite being a
legal permanent resident who has since become sober and changed his
life completely.
“My husband has been clean and sober for 5 years now and has dedicated
his life to helping others recover from addiction,” said Hope
Mustakim. “We were only married for 8 months before he was taken away
from me. Now I only see him twice a month through the pane glass at
the detention center, which is a 260 mile drive from my home. The
emotional and financial cost of our separation has been devastating,
and it saddens me to know that this is happening to other families
caught up in the detention system across the country.”
Since 1996, the immigration detention system has grown rapidly, from
70,000 people detained annually to about 400,000. The US now maintains
a sprawling network of detention facilities, comprised of more than
250 federal, state and private prisons and county jails, at an annual
cost of $1.7 billion to taxpayers. The expansion of the detention
system has been accompanied by increasing levels of abuse, ranging
from substandard living conditions to over 120 immigrant deaths since
2003.
“In Florida we’re experiencing the expansion of the immigration
detention system firsthand,” says Kathy Bird of the Florida Immigrant
Coalition. “In Broward County there are plans to build one of the
largest immigration detention centers in the country, with capacity
for 1,500 beds or even more. We’ve seen the disastrous effects that
detention centers have had in other communities around the country,
and we’re working with immigration advocates and concerned residents
in Broward County to make sure we’re not replicating the problem.”
Through its Dignity, Not Detention campaign, Detention Watch Network,
a national coalition working to reform the immigration detention
system, is calling on Congress and the Obama Administration to:
Repeal all laws mandating the detention of non-citizens.
Put an end to all policies and programs that use the criminal
justice system to target people for detention and deportation.
Bring the U.S. into compliance with its obligations under
international human rights law, which prohibits arbitrary detention.
“If we’re serious about restoring due process to our immigration laws
and reducing the human and financial cost of the detention system,”
says Shah. “It’s time we put an end to mandatory detention.”
