Pressroom

Our latest press releases on important news and events relating to immigration detention in the United States

For media inquiries contact: media@detentionwatchnetwork.org


Second Suicide to Occur in ICE Detention This Year

May 16, 2017

Washington, DC — Immigrant rights organizations, Georgia Detention Watch and Detention Watch Network demand an immediate investigation into the death of Jean Jimenez-Joseph. Jimenez-Joseph, 27, died on Monday while in the custody of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being detained at Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. ICE is reporting the death as a suicide, which provides a heartbreaking perspective into the state of mind of Jimenez-Joseph who had spent 19 days in solitary confinement prior to his passing.

Federal Budget Limits Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Agenda, Continues to Expand Detention and Border Militarization

May 2, 2017

Washington, DC – For weeks, hundreds of thousands of people across the country have gathered petitions, protested in the streets, and confronted members of Congress to oppose Trump’s funding request to bankroll his wholesale attack on immigrants. Over the weekend, Congress reached a preliminary deal which would fund the government through the end of September, pending a vote that could come anytime within the week.

Activists Confront Members of Congress to Demand “No Boots, No Beds, No Wall” as the Funding Deadline Approaches

April 27, 2017

Washington, DC — Yesterday, American Friends Service Committee, Detention Watch Network and United We Dream activists converged on Capitol Hill to confront Members of Congress to publicly commit to not a penny for Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Congress is scheduled to vote by the end of the week on federal government funding for the rest of the fiscal year. Negotiations include the administration’s request for an additional $3 billion for DHS which would bankroll the deportation force, mass detention of immigrants and the border wall.

U.S. Government is a No Show at Human Rights Hearing

March 21, 2017

Washington, DC – In a hearing today on the impact of Trump’s immigration executive orders at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), there was a noticeable absence – the United States government. The government’s nonattendance in the IACHR hearing, whose mission is to promote and protect human rights in the American hemisphere, is unprecedented and further demonstrates the Trump administration’s complete disdain for the people that his immigration executive orders are impacting.

First Death in Immigration Detention Under the Trump Administration as the White House Looks to Expand a System Riddled with Abuse

March 17, 2017

Washington, DC — Immigrant rights organizations, Congreso de Jornaleros, Detention Watch Network and Southern Poverty Law Center demand an immediate investigation into the death of Roger Rayson. Rayson, 47, died earlier this week while in the custody of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being detained at LaSalle Detention Center in Louisiana.

Congress Must Send a Clear Message: Taxpayer Dollars Will Not be Used to Support an Anti-immigrant Agenda

March 16, 2017

Washington, DC  Today, the White House asked Congress to cover the costs of President Trump’s immigration executive orders. In addition to billions already allocated for immigration enforcement, taxpayers would be footing the bill for an extra $3 billion to fund the president’s border wall and deportation force, including more border agents and a request for 45,700 immigration detention beds in total.

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