Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) Introduces Legislation to Ensure the Humane Treatment of Immigration Detainees
Washington,
Feb 26 -
(please see click here to view the letter of support that includes a complete list of organizations endorsing the measure)
Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) introduced the Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act of 2009 (HR 1215) today to better ensure immigrant detainees receive fair and humane treatment while in detention.
“The Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act will ensure that the Department of Homeland Security does not ignore its own detention standards. This bill gives these regulations the force of law, bringing accountability to a system in desperate need of better oversight,” Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) said. “Final passage of my legislation would help to ensure that detainees, especially unaccompanied children, are treated humanely, receive access to legal representation and obtain needed medical care.”
In 2008, the federal government revised its immigration detention standards, but they are still not legally enforceable or consistently implemented. As a result, thousands of detainees have been subjected to inhumane conditions. The ACLU and other advocacy organizations have received countless complaints regarding deplorable medical care, phones that don’t work, and abuse at detention facilities.
Joanne Lin, ACLU legislative counsel, commended Congresswoman Roybal-Allard for introducing her bill, saying, "Unfortunately, the federal government has failed to exercise meaningful oversight of immigration detention facilities nationwide. The ACLU regularly receives complaints from immigration detainees whose cries for medical care go unanswered. All too often, the ACLU learns of detainees who have died from both serious diseases such as cancer and mundane conditions such as bacterial infections when earlier intervention could have made a difference. Congresswoman Roybal-Allard’s bill is necessary to introduce oversight and transparency into the immigration detention system.”
In response to these concerns, Congresswoman Roybal-Allard said she was encouraged by a January 30, 2009 directive issued by the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, calling for an internal review by the Department of Homeland Security of its immigration detention standards. “I hope that this review will shine a light on the pervasive problems at these facilities and ultimately lead the Department to take action to correct them,” Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard said.
The Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act would also increase the use of alternatives to detention for individuals who are not considered a flight risk or pose a threat to public safety.
Reverend Richard Graham, a bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, applauded the legislation. “Every day families with young children and asylum seekers fleeing persecution in their own countries are locked up in the United States. Our government’s use of detention on such vulnerable groups takes us down a path that undermines not only the dignity of those we detain but also our country’s core values.”
Through the congresswoman’s legislation, these detainees would be placed in a proven program of supervised release—a more humane option than incarceration and one that could potentially save millions of tax dollars.
“With the skyrocketing increase in detention of non-citizens—annually exceeding 300,000 persons—the American taxpayer is shouldering nearly $2 billion per year to house detainees. This is an exorbitant cost, especially when you consider that most of them pose no threat to the community or public safety. These vulnerable populations, including asylum seekers, torture victims, families, pregnant women, and the elderly, can be released using secure, proven methods of supervision that come at a fraction of the cost of incarceration,” Congresswoman Roybal-Allard said.
In sum, the Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act would do the following:
- Establish legally enforceable detention condition standards such as access to phones and medical care;
- Ensure that detainees receive appropriate medical care, and create safeguards against forcible drugging;
- Facilitate speedy transfers of children to better equipped shelter facilities and increase training for immigration officers who work with unaccompanied youth; and
- For those detainees who are not a flight risk, promote community-based “alternatives to detention” programs that are cost-effective and successful.
Congresswoman Roybal-Allard continued: “Because the Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act introduces sensible reforms to correct the many failings of immigrant detention in this country, the measure has garnered broad-based support. More than 100 faith, human rights, civil liberties, immigrant and community organizations have signed a letter endorsing my bill. I would like to specifically thank the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the National Immigrant Justice Center for the important role they played in formulating this legislation and for the tireless work they do every day on behalf of immigrant detainees."
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