How We Treat Immigrants in Detention
Published: April 2, 2012
To the Editor:
Maxwell Holyoke-Hirsch
“Detention Is No Holiday,” by Edwidge Danticat (Op-Ed, March 28), offers a grim insight into the realities of the United States immigration detention system. I wish her description were the exception to the rule, but it’s not.
Human Rights First’s pro bono legal representation program for detained and nondetained asylum seekers partners with pro bono lawyers in New York, New Jersey and Washington. We see the realities of our country’s broken immigration detention system every day.
Beyond the problems outlined by Ms. Danticat, immigration detainees are overwhelmingly detained in jails and jail-like facilities despite the limited “civil” authority under which they are held. Their detention is not independently reviewed or assessed, and they face tremendous challenges in acquiring legal counsel.
While this administration has taken steps to address some of these deficiencies, more must be done. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should move to more effective and much less costly detention alternatives. Ms. Danticat makes that abundantly clear.
ANNIE SOVCIK
Advocacy Counsel
Refugee Protection Program
Human Rights First
Washington, March 28, 2012
Advocacy Counsel
Refugee Protection Program
Human Rights First
Washington, March 28, 2012
To the Editor:
The House Judiciary Committee has the responsibility to oversee the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws. The Obama administration not only refuses to enforce all immigration laws, but also goes beyond common sense to accommodate illegal and criminal immigrants.
The Obama administration has made a joke out of federal detention by dramatically expanding rights and privileges to illegal and criminal immigrants in federal custody. While access to necessary and lifesaving medical care should be provided to everyone in federal custody, excessive privileges and questionable services should not be included.
But that is exactly what the Obama administration has done. Under its new detention standards, detainees now have access to libraries with free Internet access, cable TV, an indoor gym with basketball courts, soccer fields, and sand and nets for beach volleyball. In addition to paying for these amenities, American taxpayers have to foot the bill for many questionable services, such as hormone therapy for transgender detainees and counseling and transportation costs for elective abortions.
The United States prides itself on treating people with the utmost dignity and respect. But the Obama administration has decided to upgrade accommodations for detained illegal and criminal immigrants. While we would all like to be upgraded, we don’t have the luxury of billing American taxpayers or making federal law enforcement agents our concierge. The Obama administration should put the interests of American taxpayers ahead of those of illegal and criminal immigrants.
LAMAR SMITH
Washington, March 29, 2012
Washington, March 29, 2012
The writer, a Republican from Texas, is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
To the Editor:
Edwidge Danticat’s poignant Op-Ed essay highlights the draconian consequences of detaining asylum seekers. These vulnerable individuals come to the United States seeking refuge from torture and persecution in their home countries, but all too frequently they are greeted with imprisonment and conditions of confinement that worsen their trauma and force many to relive the horrifying events that caused them to flee in the first place.
New standards from Immigration and Customs Enforcement purport to address the most egregious human rights violations that immigration detainees have suffered in recent years, but they do not go far enough.
The United States asylum program reflects a longstanding commitment to human rights, liberty and freedom. These principles are dramatically undermined when we lock up the very individuals whom we have promised safe haven. As House members examine the immigration detention system, they should consider whether we are treating those who seek our protection in a manner that truly reflects our nation’s values.
KAREN MUSALO
San Francisco, March 28, 2012
San Francisco, March 28, 2012
The writer is director of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the University of California Hastings College of the Law.
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