As the first GOP Presidential debate approaches next week, immigration is sure to become a heated — and contentious — topic among the Republican candidates, many of whom are verging to the far-right on immigration in an attempt to woo primary voters. But we know it’s about so much more...
Continue
»
Yesterday, a social worker and two formerly-detained mothers testified at a Congressional forum about horrific conditions at Karnes, a family detention facility in Texas. The forum, organized by leading House Democrats, featured harrowing details about the conditions mothers and children face in detention facilities. A Storify on the forum,...
Continue
»
In a forum on family detention organized by leading House Democrats yesterday, a social worker testified about the devastating abuse she witnessed while working at the Karnes family detention facility, including the denial of basic medical care for sick children. “What I saw during my time at Karnes made clear...
Continue
»
As advocates applaud a judge’s ruling that holding women and children in detention violates a 1997 court decision, a social worker will today testify about the “deplorable” conditions she witnessed while working at the Karnes detention facility in Texas. From Esther Lee of ThinkProgress: At a Judiciary Democrats’ Forum...
Continue
»
Citing a 1997 court settlement on the detention of children, late last week U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled that hundreds of mothers and children currently held in family detention facilities must be released by the federal government. From the AP: “The decision Friday by U.S. District Judge Dolly...
Continue
»
Six immigrant rights leaders were arrested yesterday during an action protesting the treatment of LGBTQ immigrants while in ICE detention. “We are asking President Obama to free all LGBT people from detention because detention is not protecting them. Detention is brutalizing them,” said Brooke Cerda-Guzmán, an undocumented transgender woman....
Continue
»
Transgender detainees will now be held in facilities matching their gender identity, ICE immigration officials announced on Monday. From Fusion: “We believe this guidance is the most comprehensive for transgender individuals in any custodial entity,” Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, the deputy assistant director for custody programs for ICE, told Fusion in...
Continue
»
In a press conference earlier today, a group of House Democrats welcomed news that DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson will make changes, including limiting detention times and lowering bond rates, to the family detention system. But after visiting two facilities in Texas earlier this week, including one where a detained mother recently...
Continue
»
Yesterday, eight House Democrats spent several hours meeting with detained mothers and their children at the Karnes County Residential Center in Karnes, Texas. Rep. Joaquin Castro, who led the Congressional delegation, called it “a very emotional visit,” with one mother saying she and her child have been detained at...
Continue
»
In a press conference yesterday, eight House Democrats announced plans to visit two detention centers in Texas early next week. The House members, including Whip Steny Hoyer, Rep. Joaquin Castro, Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard,...
Continue
»
