Hi John, Yesterday morning, I had the opportunity to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee about the abusive and deadly immigration detention system and the danger of its rapid expansion. I was honored to sit beside several individuals who survived detention, who spoke of their traumatic experiences being locked up as they fought their immigration cases.

As I said in my testimony, as the policy director at the National Immigrant Justice Center and from my experiences working with immigrants, I have come to the inexorable conclusion that the United States immigration detention system must end.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) locked up 500,000 people this fiscal year alone in county jails and private prisons that contract with ICE for profit. Right before yesterday's hearing, a CQ Roll Call article featuring new documents obtained by NIJC revealed the harsh and neglectful conditions inside ICE jails, and the system's profit-fueled growth.

There are no enforceable rules for minimal standards of care for those detained by ICE. Abuses like fatal medical negligence and indefinite solitary confinement persist with little recourse for those harmed.

Mass incarceration of individuals going through the U.S. immigration system is a relatively new reality. It hasn’t always been this way, and it does not need to be this way now. There are alternatives--smarter and cheaper and kinder alternatives--and every day that we delay in implementing better alternatives to mass incarceration, more people suffer.

You can read my testimony and watch the hearing on NIJC's blog here: https://immigrantjustice.org/staff/blog/testimony-congress-end-abusive-immigration-detention

I want to thank you for joining us in fighting for a more humane future for our immigrant neighbors and newcomers seeking safety. Together, we can end deadly, costly, and unnecessary immigration detention.

We look forward to keeping in touch with you and will keep you updated about ways you can help end immigration detention.
 

Thanks,

Heidi Altman
National Immigrant Justice Center

P.S. If you want to stay updated about what you can do to end immigration jails in your community and around the country, let us know here: https://immigrantjustice.salsalabs.org/enddetention