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Report Exposes 'Systemic Abuse' at For-Profit Migrant Detention Centers in Louisiana
"These individuals have fled persecution and violence only to be thrown in 'civil' detention and left to fend for themselves in an abusive, profit-driven, and manipulative system."
Aug 26, 2024
A coalition of rights groups on Monday released a report documenting "systemic human rights abuses" at migrant detention centers in Louisiana and called for an end to the use of for-profit facilities by U.S. agencies.
The 108-page report, drawn from more than 6,000 interviews at Lousiana immigrant detention centers since 2022, was produced by Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Human Rights, the ACLU, the ACLU of Louisiana, Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy, and the National Immigration Project.
Louisiana has nine immigrant detention centers that together typically hold more than 6,000 people—second only to Texas. Eight of the nine are run by for-profit companies that have contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The report—which calls for these detention centers, which are under the remit of the New Orleans (NOLA) ICE field office, to be shut down—details a wide range of abuses including sexual assault, humiliating speech, medical neglect, and a lack of nutritious food and clean water.
"These individuals have fled persecution and violence only to be thrown in 'civil' detention and left to fend for themselves in an abusive, profit-driven, and manipulative system," Sarah Decker, a lawyer at RFK Human Rights and a lead author of the report, said in a statement.
"We've heard horrific stories over the last two years, stories that have been corroborated by extensive documentation," she added. "Our findings further support what detained people and their advocates have long demanded: the NOLA ICE jails must be shut down."
The New Orleans #Louisiana ICE Field Office (“NOLA ICE”) detains over 6,000 immigrants each day, more than any other state in the U.S. but Texas.
Our new human rights report shares first-hand accounts from detained people of abuse and degrading conditions in NOLA ICE jails,… pic.twitter.com/w63e7zCKaj
— Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (@RFKHumanRights) August 26, 2024
Many of the interviews with the rights groups were conducted as part of initial legal screenings with detainees seeking representation. The work revealed widespread "inhumane treatment" at the nine facilities, including prolonged solitary confinement and the extended use of restrictive five-point shackles.
The report says the centers' food is insufficiently nutritious and cites instances of it being contaminated by rats or cockroaches. Authorities there often deny detainees access to menstrual products and key medicines, it says.
The report's authors argued that some of the abuses qualified as torture. "In some instances, the abuses that detained people describe firsthand in this report meet the definitions of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under international human rights treaties to which the United States is a party," they wrote.
The nine facilities are in rural Louisiana, far from New Orleans. One is connected to an airport—the only such ICE facility in the country, making it a key hub for the federal agency as it moves detainees around. The network of Louisiana facilities the result of what the report authors called an "explosion of immigrant incarceration" in the state that took place in the late 2010s.
Four of the nine centers are run by Geo Group, a Florida-based multinational prison firm that has long been the target of activist rage and reform efforts, which the Biden administration hasn't successfully delivered. The company reported $2.41 billion in revenues for 2023. Four other facilities are run by LaSalle Corrections, which operates facilities across the U.S. South, while one is publicly run per an ICE contract with a local sheriff's office.
The report says that the "for-profit incentive" leads to "a dangerous combination of overcrowding and understaffing" as the firms seek to pad their bottom line. A woman at one detention center said she was not fed enough so she had to buy extra items at its commissary, where a bag of Doritos cost $9. Meanwhile, detainees who took jobs at the center earned as little as $1 per day.
The rights groups' statement calls for an immediate investigation into abuses at facilities under NOLA ICE's remit. In fact, the detention centers have already been the subject of a federal oversight investigation, initiated in December 2021, but no findings have yet been released publicly, an ACLU spokesperson told Common Dreams.
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'More of This, Please': Advocates Outraged by Biden Asylum Ban Praise New Actions
"While his recent asylum ban order was the wrong approach, we commend President Biden for meeting the moment," said one campaigner. "This proves that leading with morality, compassion, and a smart approach is possible."
Jun 18, 2024
Just weeks after blasting U.S. President Joe Biden's asylum ban as "a monstrosity" that echoed the approach of his predecessor, migrant rights advocates on Tuesday pointed to new executive action as proof that humane immigration policies are possible and necessary.
Biden announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will take action so that certain noncitizen spouses and children of U.S. citizens can "apply for lawful permanent residence—status that they are already eligible for—without leaving the country," which is expected to protect approximately half a million spouses and 50,000 children.
"Tackling the challenges faced by migrants and American families of mixed-immigration status requires bold and visionary leadership," declared Yareliz Mendez-Zamora, the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) federal campaign lead. "While his recent asylum ban order was the wrong approach, we commend President Biden for meeting the moment with this order."
"This proves that leading with morality, compassion, and a smart approach is possible," Mendez-Zamora stressed. "With this, he also starts fulfilling the promises he made to our communities during his 2020 campaign. More of this, please!"
"President Biden has finally chosen to listen to advocates who have relentlessly pushed for action from his administration."
The Democratic president—who is set to face former Republican President Donald Trump, infamous for forcibly separating migrant families at the southern border, in the November election—is also easing the work visa process for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and other Dreamers who have graduated from U.S. colleges.
"Offering talented workers the opportunity to continue contributing to our country and economy is timely as DACA hangs by a thread," said FLIC executive director Tessa Petit. "This does not eliminate the need for bold congressional action; DACA recipients are Americans in all measures but paperwork, and giving them a permanent solution is morally imperative."
Several other advocates and lawmakers in Congress—including some who have criticized Biden when he has pursued anti-migrant policies reminiscent of Trump's first term—also celebrated the new moves.
"From winning DACA 12 years ago, to winning healthcare for more undocumented folks earlier this year, to now delivering even more expansive, life-changing relief for hundreds of thousands of people, none of these victories would have been possible without our movement showing up every day to fight for our lives and our rights," said Greisa Martinez Rosas, executive director of United We Dream.
"We recognize this moment as a victory for our movement, a step in the right direction for President Biden, and a recommitment to continue to fight for the day where ALL people have the dignity and freedom to stay and freedom to thrive," she added.
Praising the plan to help families stay together, Analilia Mejia and DaMareo Cooper, executive directors of the Center for Popular Democracy, said that "this win is emblematic of decades of work immigrant communities have been doing to create a more dignified system."
"President Biden has finally chosen to listen to advocates who have relentlessly pushed for action from his administration," the pair added. "We're ready to continue the work alongside his administration to fix our broken immigration system and provide a pathway to citizenship for all."
The ACLU—which last week filed a lawsuit over the Biden administration's recently unveiled asylum restrictions—also welcomed Tuesday's developments.
"We applaud President Biden," said Deirdre Schifeling, the ACLU's chief political and advocacy officer. "This policy will help keep committed, loving families together, which strengthens all of our communities and is popular with voters. This act by the president is the type of humane and commonsense action that has made America stronger, with resilient, hardworking, and patriotic people coming to our cities and small towns, building lives and vibrant, stable communities, generation upon generation."
Other supporters of the actions include America's Voice, American Immigration Lawyers Association, CASA in Action, FWD.us, Living United for Change in Arizona, Make the Road New York, National Immigration Law Center, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, and Poder Latinx as well as progressive leaders in Congress, such as Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), and Greg Casar (D-Texas).
"Disappointingly, the announced policy continues to harness the same framing of 'national security' and 'public safety.'"
Sirine Shebaya, executive director of the National Immigration Project, said that "we join our communities and fellow advocates in celebrating the tremendous grassroots efforts that led to this executive action. The announcement is a hard-fought victory that will provide much-needed relief and stability to hundreds of thousands of families who will finally be able to live without fear of being torn apart."
"We urge the administration to implement this relief broadly, without exclusions," she emphasized. "Disappointingly, the announced policy continues to harness the same framing of 'national security' and 'public safety' that DHS has long used as pretexts to exclude many Black, brown, Muslim, Arab, Asian, and other immigrants of color from critical protections."
"While this is a step in the right direction, we urge the administration to use this momentum to truly deliver on the promise it made to protect immigrant communities," she added. "As we enter another election season, our communities urgently need bold, permanent, and inclusive relief. We join the chorus of voices advocating for permanent protections for all of our community members, including the many who were excluded in today's announcement."
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Critics Compare Biden's Proposed Asylum Rule to 'Failed Trump-Era Policies'
"The Biden administration and Congress must not erect any more unjust barriers to asylum that will sow further disorder and result in irreparable harm," said one migrant rights advocate.
May 09, 2024
Immigrant rights advocates on Thursday slammed the Biden administration's proposal to fast-track the rejection of certain migrants seeking asylum in the United States.
On Thursday the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed a rule that would empower immigration officials to disqualify certain asylum-seekers during their initial eligibility screening—called the credible fear interview (CFI)—using existing national security and terrorism-related criteria, or bars.
DHS said the rule would apply to noncitizens who have "engaged in certain criminal activity, persecuted others, or have been involved in terrorist activities."
"I urge President Biden to embrace our values as a nation of immigrants and use this opportunity to instead provide relief for the long-term immigrants of this nation."
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called the proposed rule "yet another step in our ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of the American public by more quickly identifying and removing those individuals who present a security risk and have no legal basis to remain here."
However, Greg Chen, senior director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, argued that while "bars are an important feature of our immigration laws to ensure that dangerous individuals are not allowed into the country," they must be "accurately applied where warranted."
"This change could make the process faster by excluding people who would not be entitled to stay," he noted. "However, due process will likely be eroded by accelerating what is a highly complex legal analysis needed for these bars and conducting them at the preliminary CFI screening."
As Chen explained:
At that early stage, few asylum seekers will have the opportunity to seek legal counsel or time to understand the consequences of a bar being applied. Under the current process, they have more time to seek legal advice, to prepare their case, and to appeal it or seek an exemption. Ultimately to establish a fair and orderly process at the border, Congress needs to provide the Department of Homeland Security with the resources to meet its mission and also ensure the truly vulnerable are not summarily denied protection without due process.
Democratic lawmakers—some of whom held a press conference Wednesday on protecting undocumented immigrants in the U.S.—also criticized the proposal.
"As the Biden administration considers executive actions on immigration, we must not return to failed Trump-era policies aimed at banning asylum and moving us backwards," said Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), referring to former Republican President Donald Trump, the presumptive 2024 GOP nominee to face President Joe Biden in November.
"I urge President Biden to embrace our values as a nation of immigrants and use this opportunity to instead provide relief for the long-term immigrants of this nation," he added.
One year ago, critics accused Biden of "finishing Trump's job" by implementing a crackdown on asylum-seekers upon the expiration of Title 42—a provision first invoked during Trump administration at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and continued by Biden to expel more than 1 million migrants under the pretext of public safety.
Earlier this week, the advocacy group Human Rights First released a report detailing the harms of the policy on its anniversary. The group held a press conference to unveil the report and warn of the dangers of further anti-migrant policies.
"The interviews with hundreds of asylum-seekers make clear that the asylum ban and related restrictions strands in danger children and adults seeking asylum, punishes people for seeking protection, leads to the return of refugees to persecution, spurs irregular crossings, and denies equal access to asylum to people facing the most dire risks," Human Rights First director of research and analysis of refugee protection Christina Asencio said during the press conference.
"The Biden administration and Congress must not erect any more unjust barriers to asylum that will sow further disorder and result in irreparable harm," Asencio added.
On Wednesday, three advocacy groups—Al Otro Lado, the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center, and the Texas Civil Rights Project—sued the federal government on behalf of noncitizens with disabilities seeking more information regarding CBP One, the problem-plagued Customs and Border Protection app migrants must use to schedule asylum interviews at U.S. ports of entry.
"We have and continue to see migrants with disabilities facing unlawful discrimination and unequal access to the asylum process due to the inaccessibility of the app," said Laura Murchie, an attorney with the Civil Rights and Education Enforcement Center involved in the case.
"CBP needs to release these documents so we can advocate for and ensure compliance with the law so asylum-seekers with disabilities do not continue to be harmed by CBP's disregard for rights that are guaranteed by federal disability law," she added.
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