Ana migrated to the United States from Guatemala in 2013. In this video, she shares what she experienced while locked up in an immigration detention center in the U.S. To guarantee #FreedomForAll, we must end immigration detention and re-invest the billions spent on lock-ups to fund a universal legal representation program for people who migrate and those in any immigration proceedings. Join the movement.
#FreedomForAll
Our Values: The right to human mobility is as fundamental as the right to live a life free of discrimination and to freely express one’s opinions.
People who migrate have the right to seek protection and regularize their immigration status, without being criminalized, detained or locked up.
#FreedomForAll is a movement of migrant-led organizations and allies that asserts that freedom is a fundamental human right and we must pursue a series of policies designed to achieve freedom for migrant and immigrant communities. Furthermore, freedom is only possible when we abolish immigration detention and defund private prisons.
To guarantee freedom for all, the U.S. government must invest at least $400 million as part of the Department of Justice (DOJ) budget for a universal legal representation program for people who migrate.
Everyone deserves a fair shot in court, regardless of immigration status. No one should have to show up in court, frightened and confused, without access to legal counsel and a fair shot at arguing their case.
The United States is the country with the most incarcerated people in the world. There are currently more than 2 million people detained[1] in U.S. prisons, which is 20% of the entire global population of detained people. Within the last 40 years, we’ve seen overall incarceration rates grow exponentially. This has resulted in the sustained growth and expansion of the systemic detention of migrants in the United States. Additionally, our nation’s history of anti-Black[2] and anti-Indigenous migration policies and practices have led to an overrepresentation of people of color in immigration detention.
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During the U.S. ”war on drugs,”[3] toxic narratives made it harder for migrants to come to the U.S. because of a rising, racist fear that migrants from Latin America were bringing drugs and crime into the U.S. The association between Latinx immigrants, crime, and drugs remains today.
In 1996, anti-immigrant laws were passed[4] with the false belief that they would provide security and would be “tough on crime,” even though there has been no credible connection between immigrants and crime. The key law that was passed was the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). IIRIRA eliminated defenses against deportation and created barriers for legalization. The law made it easier for the government to deport immigrants, and expanded who could be detained and deported, leading to lawful permanent residents being deported. It also made it more difficult for people fleeing from persecution to apply for asylum. The list of criminal convictions that result in deportation was also expanded, meaning relatively minor, non-violent crimes would lead to deportation and family separation.
The terrorist attacks against the U.S. on September 11, 2001[4] also stirred up anti-immigrant sentiment and laws. The U.S. government equated immigrants with terrorists, which led to the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and in turn, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The government and the media portrayed immigration as a threat to the U.S., leading to anti-immigrant policies and sentiments. One of the most consequential immigration policies was created under Obama in 2011: Secure Communities. Secure Communities increased coordination between federal, state, and local law enforcement to detain and deport immigrants. It heightened racial profiling and unjustly deported millions of people.
Immigration detention is an inhumane response to what is a humanitarian issue and a natural phenomenon. There is continued and widespread mental[5], physical[6], and sexual[7] abuse that migrants experience within the detention aparatus despite widespread outcry.
Right now, under Biden, most detainees in immigration detention facilities are people who recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border; many are seeking asylum or to be reunited with family in the United States. Because the United States has essentially shut down asylum at border ports of entry, asylum seekers are forced to cross the border in order to have a chance at making a case. The lack of an orderly asylum system at the border continues to fuel the detention and deportation machine.
Upon inauguration, the Biden administration signed an executive order to end the use of private prisons for people in federal criminal custody: but this does not apply to immigrant detention centers. However, private prison corporations are already finding loopholes to keep their facilities open and converting them into immigrant detention centers[8] for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Despite the claims of anti-immigrant politicians and agencies, detention does nothing[9] for American security[10] and, on top of the vast human rights abuses occurring in detention facilities, it is a waste of $1.8 billion annually[11]. These funds on detention beds could be better spent on investing in immigrant communities including legal counsel, housing, health, transportation, education, and other programs to support immigrant families.
Freedom is a fundamental human right, regardless of migration status. But right now, an average of 50,000 people are held in detention centers every day[1].
To guarantee freedom for all, the U.S. government should abolish immigration detention and defund private prisons.
Instead of the U.S. government spending billions on detention, the Department of Justice should budget at least $400 million for a universal legal representation program. This would ensure legal counsel for all migrants facing deportation.
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The estimated cost of this program is only $208 million, less than 11.5% of what DHS spends on detention beds (1.8 billion). It is less than 1% of the entirety of the DHS budget. Everyone deserves a fair shot in court, regardless of immigration status.
77% of people facing deportation[14] in 2019 had no legal representation.
People who are provided with legal counsel are five times more[15] likely to win their cases and people who are detained are 11 times more likely to win if they have representation.
A recent report[16] found that 96% of non-detained immigrants represented by a lawyer attended all of their hearings.
There is widespread evidence of endemic abuse[17] in privately-run immigration detention centers. In January 2021, President Biden issued an executive order[18] to end U.S. government contracts with private prisons — however, this does not apply to immigrant detention centers. Biden should extend the order so that it does include immigrant detention centers.
In places like Alabama, there have been attempts[19] to misuse COVID-19 federal relief funds to build new prisons. Federal dollars shouldn’t be used for prison construction projects. Aid should be allocated to explicitly center and uplift widespread economic prosperity, with a specific focus on historically-excluded Black, Brown and Indigenous communities.
Freedom is only possible when we abolish immigration detention and defund private prisons.
Migrants and asylum seekers have the human right to seek protections and access permanent residency status through legal frameworks, without being deprived of their many freedoms through incarceration and or detention.
What You Can Do
Stand with us in ending the mass migrant incarceration apparatus and once and for all, and support a pro-migrant, pro-migration agenda that abolishes immigration detention:
Take action to demand that the Biden administration and Congress implement policies that recognize that people who migrate have the right to seek protection and regularize their immigration status, without being detained or locked up.
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[1] “What percent of the U.S. is incarcerated?” Prison Policy Initiative. January 16, 2020.
[2] “Immigration and Blackness: What’s Race Got to Do With It?” American Bar. May 16, 2019.
[3] “Immigration Detention 101.” Detention Watch Network. Accessed 2022.
[4] “Mandatory Detention.” Detention Watch Network. Accesses 2022.
[5] “The impact of immigration detention on mental health: a systematic review.“ US National Library. December 6, 2018.
[6] “ICE Detention Facilities Failing to Meet Basic Standards of Care.” United States House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security. September 21, 2020.
[7] “Detained, then violated.” The Intercept. April 11, 2018.
[8] “Biden vowed to close federal private prisons, but prison companies are finding loopholes to keep them open.“ CNN. November 12, 2021.
[9] “Terrorism and Migration: An Overview“ Cambridge University Press. December 17, 2020.
[10] ”Is There a Connection Between Undocumented Immigrants and Crime?” The Marshall Project. May 13, 2019.
[11] “Budget-in-Brief: Fiscal Year 2022.“ Homeland Security. Accessed February 2022.
[12] “COST OF COUNSEL IN IMMIGRATION: ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF PROPOSAL PROVIDING PUBLIC COUNSEL TO INDIGENT PERSONS SUBJECT TO IMMIGRATION REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.“ NERA Economic Consulting. May 28, 2014.
[13] “Budget-in-Brief: Fiscal Year 2020.“
[14] “A Federal Defender System for Immigrants Is Long Overdue.“ Immigration Impact. February 26, 2021.
[15] “Access to Counsel in Immigration Court.“ American Immigration Council. September 28, 2016.
[16] “11 Years of Government Data Reveal That Immigrants Do Show Up for Court.“ American Immigration Council. January 28, 2021.
[17] “California police got hundreds of calls about abuse in private ICE detention centers. Cases were rarely prosecuted.“ Los Angeles Times. October 18, 2020.
[18] “Executive Order on Reforming Our Incarceration System to Eliminate the Use of Privately Operated Criminal Detention Facilities.“ January 26, 2021.
[19] “President Biden and Members of Congress: End the Criminalization of Migrants, #FreedomForAll!“ Alianza Americas.
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