U.S. Immigration Agency Denies Basic Rights

04 December 2009

U.S. Immigration Agency Denies Basic Rights

By Brenda Lopez Romero
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Human Rights Watch report reviewed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency practices and determined that the detention and transfer of non-citizens in the immigration detention system denied basic rights to non-citizens. It also concluded that both legal and unauthorized non-citizens are held unnecessarily. The report illustrated that some detainees from Philadelphia and Los Angeles are being transferred to Texas or Louisiana.

The information in the report was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) of Syracuse University. Alison Parker, director for the U.S. Human Rights Watch chapter, said “ICE is increasingly subjecting detainees to a chaotic game of musical chairs, and it’s a game with dire consequences.” The transfers seem to have at least some purpose as data indicate that the Federal Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas) is receiving the most transfers and it is also the jurisdiction that is most adverse to the non-citizen rights, has the lowest numbers of immigration lawyers, and has the most conservative judges.

In a separate investigation, the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security found that the transfers of detainees are haphazard, detainees are not offered notice of their charges, and are not being released even when they was been granted bond. The Inspector reported that these inappropriate transfers result in lack of access to legal counsel and evidence, add time to the detention, and cause “errors, delays and confusion for detainees, their families, legal representatives,” and the immigration courts. Moreover, the Inspector found that since 2003, detentions have more than doubled to over 442,000 people a year.

Immdetain2(PHOTO: Courtesy of the Washington Independent – Detention Center in Texas)

The Constitution Project, a bipartisan group, also called for broad changes in the immigration law to include access to appointed counsel particularly for unaccompanied minors. This move would add more constitutional safeguards similar to the criminal justice system, significantly reducing the burden of proof, and allow permanent legal residents to file a waiver of mandatory detention. Mr. Asa Hutchinson, Chair of the Constitution Project, defended the recommendation, because none “made should in any way compromise national security … It simply allows for a more humane and more efficient system.”

For more information, please see:

The Chronicle – Agency, advocates assail ICE on detainee transfers – 3 December 2009

The New York Times – Immigration Detention System Lapses Detailed – 3 December 2009

The Washington Independent – Immigrant Detention Doubles Since 1999 – 2 December 2009

Author: Impunity Watch Archive