FCNL joined 230 organizations in rebuking the record level rates of immigrant detention and demanding the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson implement direly needed policy changes.
Amid reports from the Wall Street Journal that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is running out of money and looking for new space to detain over 42,000 immigrants and asylum seekers, the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) joined 230 organizations in rebuking the record level rates of immigrant detention and demanding the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson implement direly needed policy changes.
The unprecedented number of immigrants in detention also illuminates the need for systemic change in our immigration system. Hannah Graf Evans, lead lobbyist on immigration at FCNL states,
“There is broad understanding that the integrity of our criminal justice system is diminished by overly punitive sentences for non-violent and minor transgressions. Immigrant detention is no different; it is similarly excessive and retributive, and does nothing to remedy the flaws in our immigration system or deter migration.
“FCNL is committed to pursuing a major overhaul of disproportionately punitive immigration laws, including working with Congress to pass legislation that strengthens the asylum system, expands access to legal aid, and offers more ways for immigrants to pursue lawful status. Without meaningful reform the numbers of immigrants languishing in detention at the expense of American tax dollars - and integrity - will continue to climb.
“We call on the Administration to take tangible steps now to protect vulnerable migrant populations and take steps to reduce the overall use of detention for infractions related to immigration status. FCNL calls on the Administration to end the practice of contracting with private, for-profit corporations to build and run immigrant detention centers, cease detaining families, asylum-seekers, and other vulnerable migrant populations, and invest in community-based, non-restrictive alternatives to detention.”
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Press Contact:
Hannah Graf Evans, Domestic Policy Associate
(202) 903-2537, hannah@fcnl.org
