Our latest press releases on important news and events relating to immigration detention in the United States
For media inquiries contact: media@detentionwatchnetwork.org
San Diego, CA— In response to the first COVID-19 related death of a detained person at the CoreCivic operated Otay Mesa Detention Center in California, immigrant rights advocates issued the following statements:
Pedro Rios, Director of the American Friends Service Committee’s US-Mexico Border Program in San Diego, said:
Washington, DC — Today, the Trump administration is expected to announce an executive order impacting immigration to the United States. In anticipation of this announcement Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network issued the following statement:
Tacoma, Washington — Today, news broke of a hunger strike at the Northwest Detention Center in Washington State with approximately 50 people participating to protest their incarceration at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. Hunger strikers then spelled out the distress signal, SOS, in the yard of the detention center with their own bodies to reflect the emergency they are facing and demand ICE release them from detention immediately.
Adelanto, CA — Today, the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ICIJ) and Detention Watch Network released a new video on the Adelanto Detention Center in California, one of the largest and deadliest immigration detention centers in the country, and the ongoing efforts to shut it down.
Watch the video here: https://www.facebook.com/DetentionWatchNetwork/videos/161264158487617
Washington, DC — In response to the rise of COVID-19 cases in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and ICE’s refusal to release all people in detention, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement:
Washington, DC — Today, news broke of a hunger strike at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island that began on Saturday with approximately 60 people participating, while across the country there are over 60 immigrant women who are on hunger strike at the Northwest Detention Center in Washington state.
Chicago, IL — In response to the news of the first death due to the coronavirus pandemic at the Stateville Correctional Center and over 100 people reported infected at the Cook County Jail, Bárbara Suárez Galeano, Organizing Director of Detention Watch Network offered the following statement.
Bárbara Suárez Galeano, Organizing Director, Detention Watch Network:
Washington, DC — Today, advocates, lawyers, public health experts, and a person formerly detained convened for an urgent briefing on the state of COVID-19 in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities, and the immediate need to release people now to protect public health.
Houston, TX — Last week Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) awarded the Houston Processing Center a nearly $50 million contract to keep the for-profit immigration detention facility open for the next decade. The 10-year contract is the first of a three facility solicitation for increased detention capacity in Texas that ICE initiated in November.
Washington, DC — In response to the breaking news that the first person in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody tested positive for coronavirus, Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement in response:
