List of abuses, failures and shortcomings of US
detention of immigrants!!! Sue Kenney, Former Board Member Current Volunteer Visitor
1. ICE withholds money from detainees: One widespread form of abuse is the
deportation of immigrants without the money they have in prison accounts. OLE sent to La Salle Correctional Institution
in Lousiana on October 12, 2011, from the Bergen County Jail. At the time he had
over $ 500.00 in his personal account in Bergen County. He was subsequently deported to El Salvador
on October 21. I made numerous calls to ICE Agent ES, and to the warden at the
Bergen County Jail. After two months of
doggedly persistent phone calls, and an announcement from First Friends that we
would go public with this story, ICE (Officer GF) wired OLE his money just before
Christmas.
Although OLE did get his money, most do not. I’ve spoken to immigration lawyers, visitors of detainees, and other people involved in the detention system, and overwhelmingly, people have old me that keeping detainees’ money is common practice for ICE. At first, I could not get a straight answer from anyone as to what happens to this money; but finally, Winnie Fallon from the Bergen County Jail told me that the money sits in an account for seven years, then goes back to ICE.
Although OLE did get his money, most do not. I’ve spoken to immigration lawyers, visitors of detainees, and other people involved in the detention system, and overwhelmingly, people have old me that keeping detainees’ money is common practice for ICE. At first, I could not get a straight answer from anyone as to what happens to this money; but finally, Winnie Fallon from the Bergen County Jail told me that the money sits in an account for seven years, then goes back to ICE.
The detention system is already generating billions of dollars in profits every
year on the backs of these immigrants – the poorest of the poor. To take what small personal sums of money
they may have is unconscionable and begs the question, “what kind of a society are
we?”
2. Detainees are denied a phone call: I have visited men who have been denied a
phone call. Their families do not know where
they are, nor do their employers. It
seems that a simple phone call could help to allay fears and soothe rattled
nerves on both sides. It is a small
request, yet it is denied to many.
3. Deportation information is withheld: The detainees are often treated more as
inanimate objects than men. They are told nothing, and live in constant fear of
being deported at any moment. Every time a door opens, or a guard walks near,
they wonder if now is their time. This
prolonged state of fear is exhausting and tantamount to mental torture. Most whom I’ve visited cannot sleep, and are
too demoralized to even watch TV. There
is no relief. If they were at least told
that they were being deported, they might be able to steel their nerves and cope
a little better.
4. Visitors are treated poorly: On the same subject, visitors are often
treated as personas non grata by the guards as well. While a few guards are pleasant to deal with,
many treat visitors as nuisances or worse. Some guards actually seem to take
pleasure in making visiting difficult or impossible.
5. Guards are misinformed: Guards often tell visitors that the detainee
they are looking for is not in custody.
They are either misinformed, or they do not take the time to spell a
detainee’s name correctly, or to look for more than one detainee by the same
last name. Visitors sometimes travel for
miles to get to a facility and are turned away, only to find out that the
person they intended to visit was there the whole time.
6. Detainees live in fear: Since the detainees are housed “dormitory
style,” there are many opportunities for unchecked bullying. Undocumented detainees, for the most part,
are arrested for non-violent activities – or just for being in the wrong place
at the wrong time. In order not to get drawn into fights, they have to live in
silence, keep their heads down and hope for the best. The constant fear of an unprovoked attack,
coupled with the fear of deportation is overwhelming and inhumane.
7.
Information
is withheld from detainees and from visitors: Information about why and how detainees were
arrested is only available to attorneys.
Most detainees do not have the wherewithal to get an attorney to look at
their case – especially pro bono.
Visitors’ hands are tied, because without any information from the
facility or from ICE, we are at a great disadvantage when trying to secure an
attorney for a detainee. If a detainee gives his permission, it would seem that
ICE has nothing to lose by giving out limited information to immigrants’ rights
advocates.
8. Education and constructive use of time is
denied: Many detainees
have been working in rural areas since they were very young. As a
result, they have little formal schooling, and many cannot read or write. Virtually all of the detainees I’ve visited have
mentioned an interest in being able to attend classes in prison. It is my understanding that Non-immigrant
detainees have classes available to them.
I don’t expect the federal government to pay for teachers, but if
qualified volunteer teachers could be provided, why would ICE object to
detainees using their time constructively in this manner?
9. Food is atrocious and unacceptable: The food provided is nearly inedible, but the
commissary sells small cups of soup and other trifles at unreasonably marked up
prices. Again, do we really need to make
money on these unfortunate people?
10. Visits are unreasonably limited: Visiting hours are extremely prohibitive for
most working people.
11. Detainees are stripped of dignity: Many / most detainees are arrested for minor
infractions, such as littering or jaywalking; others were picked up in
raids. To lock these people in prisons,
make them wear prison uniforms, and treat them like criminals, is a violation
of their human rights. They are
completely stripped of their dignity for the “crime” of trying to provide a
better life for their families.
12.
Unreasonable
restriction of materials: Even
for non-contact visits, visitors are not permitted to bring anything in with
them – a pencil, a piece of paper, photographs, etc. It would help tremendously if there was a
little more freedom in this matter, as sometimes a detainee wants to give us a
phone number of someone to contact, etc.
Since we are already separated by a glass partition, this type of
restriction seems extreme and unnecessary.
13. Detainees and visitors denied the opportunity
to prepare for deportation: Visitors
are not given any information about a detainee being transferred or
deported. If a detainee has been visited
more than four or five times by the same person, and that person is the only
contact a detainee has, it would be very helpful for both the detainee and the
visitor to know when a detainee is about to be transferred. This way, we could say goodbye, or possibly
put some money in their account (provided detainees are allowed to take the
money with them), so they are not deported penniless. The lack of information regarding detainees
is reminiscent of the Cold War era – but let’s not forget, we are not dealing
with foreign spies here. We are dealing
with men who are working in construction or other manual labor jobs, and have
been arrested for lack of documentation.
Just a thought – We are spending billions of dollars on immigration enforcement and the detention of workers. From my personal experience in the restaurant business, and the experiences of colleagues in various trades, undocumented workers are not taking jobs away from Americans. On the contrary, they are providing a much needed labor force. These workers want to pay taxes. They will gladly pay fines (Think of what they spend to get here – 5,000 to 11,000 dollars per person on average, not to mention the very real possibility of losing their lives in the process). We could not only save the billions we are already spending, we could generate a new revenue stream for taxes by treating these people as the valuable resource they are.
Just a thought – We are spending billions of dollars on immigration enforcement and the detention of workers. From my personal experience in the restaurant business, and the experiences of colleagues in various trades, undocumented workers are not taking jobs away from Americans. On the contrary, they are providing a much needed labor force. These workers want to pay taxes. They will gladly pay fines (Think of what they spend to get here – 5,000 to 11,000 dollars per person on average, not to mention the very real possibility of losing their lives in the process). We could not only save the billions we are already spending, we could generate a new revenue stream for taxes by treating these people as the valuable resource they are.
