List of abuses, failures and shortcomings of US detention of immigrants!!!

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.  

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.