A number of civil society groups in the United States have recently published highly critical reports alleging abusive and inhuman conditions at privately operated immigration detention centres. These include reports of abuse and mistreatment of vulnerable people, medical neglect, and failure to provide access to legal assistance. Private prison operators are nevertheless planning important extensions […]
United States
New York State: The Dignity Not Detention Act
A new white paper from students at Cornell’s Brooks School of Public Policy (State Policy Advocacy Clinic) provides a detailed look into immigration detention policies in the state of New York. […]
Documenting Detention: Part 1 – Photographing the US Detention System. A Conversation with Greg Constantine
As part of the GDP’s “Documenting Detention” series, we speak to the acclaimed independent documentary photographer, Greg Constantine, about his work photographing the United States’ vast detention estate. […]
“THIS IS A SLOW DEATH”: An Urgent Appeal on the Plight of Afghan Refugees Indefinitely and Arbitrarily Detained in the UAE
For a year and a half, thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing Taliban persecution have been trapped in a de-facto detention facility in the United Arab Emirates. Evacuated from Afghanistan by private actors, the refugees have languished in prolonged arbitrary detention at an emergency evacuation compound in Abu Dhabi called the “Emirates Humanitarian City”. Evacuated, But […]
United States: Covid-19 and Detention
On 30 August, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) released Concluding observations concerning its periodic review of US implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Committee highlighted the discriminatory application of immigration enforcement measures, stating that mandatory detention measures have a “disparate impact on asylum seekers of […]
United States: Covid-19 and Detention
In late June, 53 migrants died after being abandoned in a trailer in south-west San Antonio, Texas, marking the highest ever death toll from a human trafficking event near the US-Mexico border. More than half of the victims were originally from Mexico while 14 were from Honduras, seven from Guatemala, and two from El Salvador. […]
United States: Covid-19 and Detention
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a hard-hitting report on the mistreatment of detainees at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centres since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the details of more than 40 lawsuits filed by the ACLU on behalf of detainees, the report, titled “The Survivors: Stories of […]
United States: Covid-19 and Detention
New U.S. President Joseph Biden issued a series of immigration-related executive orders that roll back signature–and highly controversial–programs of the Trump administration. At the same time, reports have surfaced about how guards at privately operated immigration detention centres–which greatly expanded under Trump–threatened detainees with exposure to COVID-19 if they resisted being deported, adding fuel to […]
United States: Covid-19 and Detention
As of mid-December 2020, more than 7,800 ICE detainees had tested positive for COVID-19 and eight deaths related to the virus recorded. According to the San Antonio Express News, in detention centres under the jurisdiction of the San Antonio field office alone, there have been more than 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases. In a commentary published […]
United States: Covid-19 and Detention
On 18 November 2020, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to cease the expulsion of unaccompanied migrant children during the pandemic, halting a policy that has resulted in thousands of rapid deportations of minors. The government has expelled at least 8,800 unaccompanied children seeking protection since March on the basis of a health order […]
