ACT: end for-profit detention facilities

President Biden recently signed an executive order to phase out private prisons used by the Bureau of Prisons — but that order DOES NOT apply to the privately-run facilities used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The vast majority of people under ICE custody are detained in immigration detention facilities owned or managed by private prison corporations, which have a well-documented record of harsh conditions and negligent care. Thousands of people and families are languishing in these immigration detention facilities.

For-profit detention fuels human rights abuses. Amnesty has exposed the horrifying conditions in immigration detention: lack of physical distancing, overcrowding, inadequate hygiene, and negligent medical care, making them tinderboxes for the spread of COVID-19.

Additionally, Black and Brown people, who make up the majority of those detained, have long faced added discrimination and other human rights abuses at the hands of ICE. Again and again, they bear the brunt of harsh, punitive enforcement policies and practices anchored in detention and powered by private prison companies.

Our leaders must immediately free immigrants and asylum-seekers. Family detention must end once and for all, and we must stop the use of private prison companies for immigration detention. Tell Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to act decisively to reset the immigration detention system — moving from a punitive system to one based on humanity, compassion, fairness, and respect. Signing only takes a minute, and could have a massive impact on the lives of thousands of people and families!

⬇ Make Your Voice Heard ⬇

DHS Secretary

Alejandro

Mayorkas

DHS

Dear Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas,

I write to you to urge you to act on the promise of President Biden’s immigration agenda by building an immigration enforcement system based on humanity, compassion, fairness, and respect. As initial steps, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should release people in immigration detention through an affirmative file review process with a presumption of liberty, end family detention, and end the use of facilities run by private prison companies and county jails for immigration detention.

The thousands of immigrants and asylum-seekers -- including all families -- in detention should be freed. DHS should swiftly establish an affirmative file review process to consider the release of people in detention, with a presumption of liberty. This process should prioritize people who are most vulnerable to harm in custody, including individuals who face a heightened risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19, transgender people, pregnant people, HIV+ people, and all families and children.

Further, DHS should adopt guidance based on the presumption of liberty for people in the immigration system, and that commits to individualized consideration of release for all people in ICE custody. No one should be detained for seeking safety or detained solely because of their immigration status. Families should never be separated, and children should live in freedom with their families as they pursue their right to seek safety.

The policy and practice of family detention should be ended immediately, and all three family detention facilities closed. DHS should also move to close detention facilities with the most egregious records of human rights abuses.

For-profit detention should be ended. Human rights violations are linked to for-profit detention, which have a well documented record of harsh conditions and negligent care, and lack of accountability.

DHS should develop and implement a plan to phase out Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracts with private prison companies, as well as contracts with state and local prisons and jails for immigration detention. Facilities with the worst records for negligent and abusive care and conditions and lack of accountability should be prioritized in phasing out contracts. DHS should end the use of state and local prisons and jails and other criminal incarceration facilities for immigration detention altogether.

Instead of detention, the norm should be that asylum-seekers and immigrants are allowed to live in the community, supported by sponsors, community-based services, and case management programs. These are proven, compassionate alternatives that are humane, support dignity, and facilitate compliance. They also save considerable government resources.

Black and brown communities again and again bear the brunt of harsh, punitive enforcement policies and practices anchored in detention and powered by private prison companies. Failure to address these systemic harms undermines President Biden’s commitment to racial equity and human rights.

The moment is now: you have the opportunity to turn away from harsh practices that criminalize asylum-seekers and immigrants and perpetuate the systemic harms of racial inequity, and begin to build a more just, compassionate, and humane immigration system.

Thank you for your urgent action.

Sincerely,

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