Immigrants Are Regularly Kept Locked Up For Months After Deportation Orders

Written by Kristin Macleod-Ball

When the U.S. government orders that an immigrant in its custody must be deported, the person isn’t supposed to remain incarcerated for long. Yet the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) often does not deport people promptly. This means thousands of people suffer in detention for months after they’re ordered deported. 

This is what the DHS’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found in a report earlier this month. 

The federal watchdog looked at the cases of everyone in DHS custody with removal orders on a single day. Immigration law generally requires that DHS deport people within 90 days after a final removal order. But DHS held 3,053—almost a quarter of the people in custody with final removal orders—for longer than that. When OIG checked back in on those people three months later, it found that 1,284 were still detained. 

More than 1,000 immigrants were still locked up more than 6 months after they received their final removal orders. 

Almost 20 years ago, in a case called Zadvydas v. Davis, the Supreme Court ruled immigrants with final removal orders can’t be forced to stay in detention for an unlimited period of time. Even if the government can’t physically deport someone from the United States, the person can’t sit in jail indefinitely just because of their removal order. 

If deportation is not foreseeable, it’s usually considered unreasonable to keep a person jailed for more than 6 months after a removal order. There is an exception for people who haven’t been deported because they are challenging a removal order in the courts. Many of the people described in the OIG report were still in detention for this reason. However, others stayed detained for months because DHS or foreign governments delayed getting necessary travel documents or flight arrangements. 

Forty percent of the people detained for at least 90 days after their removal orders were held because of this type of government-created delay. 300 of them were still in DHS custody 3 months after that. 

While the OIG report’s findings are disheartening, they are not surprising. Under the Trump administration, DHS has expanded its capacity to detain immigrants. Currently, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detains 48,000 immigrants every day. President Trump has requested funding to increase immigration detention even more. 

 

Regardless of the reason for the prolonged detention, it should not be regular DHS practice to incarcerate immigrants for months after they are ordered removed. Immigration detention is a form of civil detention—meaning it is not a form of punishment for any unlawful conduct. Keeping people locked up because they are exercising their legal rights to challenge their deportation or because of government-created delays is unjust. 

Fuente: www.immigrationimpact.com/

https://www.inmigracionyvisas.com/a4080-Immigrants-Are-Kept-Locked-Up-After-Deportation-Orders.html

Surprise Government Inspection Finds Nooses in ICE Detention Center, Doctors Refusing to Treat Immigrant Detainees

Written by Melissa Cruz

When government officials conducted a surprise inspection of the immigration detention center in Adelanto, California this May, they were met by many signs of serious neglect and abuse, including the chilling sight of nooses made from twisted bed sheets hanging in multiple cells.

This abuse and neglect are highlighted in a new report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) and show how Adelanto staff’s blatant disregard of federal detention standards created a dangerous environment for immigrant detainees. 

Those held at the facility include asylum seekers, individuals caught up in raids, and others identified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as eligible for deportation. Some have just crossed the border while others have been in the United States for decades—though many are detained for years as their cases are decided. 

The OIG report instructs ICE and GEO Group, the private prison company that operates the center and houses the 2,000 ICE detainees, to focus on three particular areas for immediate improvement. 

According to the report, OIG is most concerned about: 


Nooses Hanging in Detainee Cells

During OIG’s inspection, officials found braided bed sheets hanging from vents in 15 out of the 20 cells they visited. Both staff and detainees referred to these bed sheets specifically as “nooses.” 

When asked why they were not removing the nooses, several guards said they were “not a high priority”—despite the seven suicide attempts that occurred at the facility in a 10-month span last year. 

One detainee told the inspectors he had witnessed several people try to commit suicide by tying their bed sheets to the vents. “The guards laugh at them and call them ‘suicide failures’ once they are back from medical,” the detainee said. 


Improperly Segregating Detainees

ICE detainees can be removed from the facility’s general population under certain circumstances, like if they commit a serious rule violation or need medical attention. 

Adelanto staff are required to follow these ICE standards for segregation—yet detainees are often removed from general population for no clear reason in a violation of their rights. 

OIG officials noted that every detainee that was removed during their inspection had been inappropriately placed in segregation. These detainees also had their family visitations revoked and were no longer allowed to purchase toiletries from the commissary, neither of which are listed as an available penalty in ICE’s detention standards. 

In other cases, communication assistance was not available as required. Inspectors noted one such instance during their visit, in which a segregated blind man with limited English proficiency was not given documents he could read in braille or understand. Additionally, OIG officials found that no segregated detainees were provided documents translated into their native languages. 


Failure to Provide Adequate and Timely Medical and Dental Care

OIG officials found that staff physicians, nurses, and mental health providers did not perform their required daily one-on-one evaluations with detainees. The report noted that medical staff would often pass by detainees’ cells, stamp their name on detainees’ records that hang outside of cells, and move on without ever stopping to conduct an evaluation. 

Both internal reviews and detainee testimonials also showed that people waited months to see a doctor for persistent health problems and were not given their prescribed medication. 

Additionally, dentists on-site refused to perform basic dental care. According to the center’s logs, no detainees received cleanings or fillings for four years. Many detainees’ teeth would fall out before their appointments—they were either wait-listed for months at a time or dentists would cancel the appointment without warning. 

Some preventative dental equipment, like floss, is only available through the commissary. When asked what detainees should do while waiting for an appointment, one staff dentist suggest that detainees “could use string from their socks to floss if they were dedicated to dental hygiene.” 

OIG officials recommended ICE conduct a thorough investigation of the detention center to ensure the safety, rights, and health of detainees. ICE said it will comply and has scheduled a contractor to conduct an inspection beginning next week. 

These findings by OIG are disturbing. They show the importance of surprise inspections and the need for congressional oversight of ICE. 

Source: www.immigrationimpact.com 

http://www.inmigracionyvisas.com/a3916-Doctors-Refusing-to-Treat-Immigrant-Detainees.html

Medical Neglect And Abuse Reported At Atlanta Immigration Detention Center

Written by Tory Johnson

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) currently uses hundreds of detention centers throughout the country to hold individuals in immigration proceedings. Many of these facilities have a concerning record, with appalling conditions and treatment of individuals under ICE’s custody. A recent report from Project South and Georgia Detention Watch highlights such issues at the Atlanta City Detention Center (ACDC), which is governed by the city council and mayor . 

The report Inside Atlanta’s Immigrant Cages reflects 18 months of research, interviews, and facility visits. Drawing on first-hand accounts from individuals held at ACDC, the report documents numerous instances of poor conditions, medical neglect, and abuse. While the facility is temporarily not accepting new detainees from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following a June order from the Atlanta mayor, ACDC is still in operation. 

The report calls for the closure of ACDC , pointing to dozens of accounts with reported violations of detention standards and human rights. Among the serious allegations highlighted in the report are: 

• Improper or limited medical and mental health care; lack of due process.
• An unsanitary environment; rampant use of lockdown and isolation.
• Exploitative labor practices.
• Demeaning or offensive treatment by detention officers.

For example, only five out of the 38 detained immigrants interviewed for the report said they were satisfied with the medical care they received at ACDC. Among the interviewees who reported medical neglect was a man with health complications from diabetes and a surgical infection. According to the report, he sought medical care but had to wait 20 days to even see a nurse. The report describes his experience: 

“…the handle in the accessible shower in his unit at ACDC broke while he was transferring himself out of the wheelchair onto the shower bench. As a result, he fell, hit his head and knee, and re-opened his surgical injury. Despite his screams of pain, no guards came to his aid, and he had to wait approximately three hours for the supervisor to return before he was taken back to the hospital.” 

Two months later, ACDC medical staff took away his wheelchair though he repeatedly presented the hospital’s order stating his need for crutches. 

The conclusions reached in the report, and the documented experiences of those detained, reveal a stark reality that contradicts the “acceptable” rating the facility received in its annual inspection. The accuracy of these inspections—conducted for ICE by a contracted, private company called the Nakamoto Group—has been heavily scrutinized by federal investigators on multiple occasions. 

For example, an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General found major inconsistencies and shortcomings with Nakamoto inspections . The investigation concluded that: 

“…inspections do not fully examine actual conditions or identify all compliance deficiencies… neither the [ICE] inspections nor the onsite monitoring ensure consistent compliance with detention standards.” 

The report strengthens existing evidence revealing persistent allegations of abuses and violations of established standards at detention centers, including disturbing accounts from other detention facilities in Georgia . 

This uptick in alleged offenses is one of the many factors causing some elected officials and leaders to reject proposals for new detention centers or to reconsider existing contracts, which also are a costly burden for taxpayers. Immigration detention—which is civil in nature under the law—should not amount to punishment. 

The concerning conditions at ACDC documented in the report add to mounting evidence of problems at detention centers. Hopefully elected officials and leaders at all levels of government will take this research seriously and make decisions regarding detention that truly reflect the vision and values of our communities and nation. 

Source: www.immigrationimpact.com

http://www.inmigracionyvisas.com/a3888-Medical-Neglect-And-Abuse-in-Immigration-Detention-Center.html