NEW YORK -- Immigrant advocates say President Joe Biden's executive order to end the use of private prisons is an important first step, but more needs to be done.
The executive order, issued during the first week of Biden's presidency, directs the Department of Justice not to renew its contracts with corporations operating the privately run prisons that house about 16% of the federal prison population.
Basma Eid, national programs manager for the group Freedom to Thrive, argued it does not apply to contracts under Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, which held an average of 50,000 undocumented immigrants in detention every day in fiscal year 2019, 80% of them in privately owned or managed prisons.
"While this executive order does take a step toward abolishing the use of for-profit prisons, it really doesn't speak to the number of immigrants who are detained in these privately run facilities," Eid contended.
During his presidential campaign, Biden pledged to end the federal use of private prisons, including for the detention of undocumented immigrants.
The COVID pandemic added another layer of urgency to the need to end the mass detention of immigrants.
Eid pointed out infections are extremely difficult to control in congregate settings including in detention facilities.
"There's been numbers of outbreaks that have happened across the country," Eid observed. "And instead of releasing people and protecting them and letting them be home with their families and their communities, people are risking their lives every day inside."
In November, at least five people detained at a privately run ICE detention facility in New Jersey tested positive for COVID-19.
Eid noted the Obama administration had issued an executive order to curtail federal use of private prisons, but it also did not address immigration detentions and it was quickly overturned by the Trump administration.
"These executive orders can only last as long as that executive is in power, and so four years from now, depending on who is in the White House, can really dictate how impactful these orders really will be," Eid cautioned.
She concluded detention of undocumented immigrants can be ended by abolishing ICE and adopting comprehensive immigration reform including a pathway to citizenship.
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California is bracing for large-scale immigration raids - and groups that advocate for children are speaking out against the climate of fear.
Recently an 11-year-old girl in Texas committed suicide after allegedly being bullied about her family's immigration status.
Mayra Alvarez - the president of The Children's Partnership, which is based in LA - said the sense of dread that a parent might be deported is extremely stressful and can lead to physical illness.
"That day to day worrying," said Alvarez, "that leads to a host of health issues, everything from increased anxiety, and depression, to stomachaches, to behaviors that aren't reflective of who they are."
Almost half of California's 9 million children have at least one immigrant parent. One in ten, or about a million children, have an undocumented parent. And one in five lives in a mixed-status family.
California legislators passed Assembly Bill 699 to protect immigrant students, but schools cannot block Immigration and Customs Enforcement from coming on campus if they have a court order.
The Trump administration has changed the rules to clear the way for immigration raids in sensitive locations like churches, hospitals, and schools - something Alvarez condemned.
"Immigration enforcement actions shouldn't unnecessarily deter immigrants - again, many of those immigrants are parents of U.S. citizen children - from participating in those very essential activities," said Alvarez, "dropping their kids off at school, going to the doctor, going to church or other religious services."
Advocates are praising local efforts to inform people of their rights and help parents make a plan in case a family member is detained by agents with ICE.
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According to the Immigration Policy Tracking Project, the Trump administration has taken 130 actions on immigration so far this term. Groups in Montana are trying to both track those changes and watch state bills.
One early executive order placed a 90-day freeze on refugee arrivals to the country, halting families with flights already booked to the U.S. Another made changes to Temporary Protected Status and Humanitarian Parole, granted when a person's home country is deemed unsafe due to armed conflict, natural disaster or other emergencies.
Mary Poole, executive director of the nonprofit resettlement agency Soft Landing Missoula, said the orders could undo years of work.
"This rapid removal of humanitarian protections, that's one thing that's really scary for folks," Poole observed. "Many people came here through this new legal pathway that Biden created and it might just be deemed null and void."
Two Montana immigration bills passed the House and were brought to the Senate last week. One would require police to check and report someone's immigration status during a "lawful stop" and the other would allow the state to criminally prosecute a person in federal detention for immigration violations.
Soft Landing Missoula works with 600 refugees and immigrants from 30 different countries. Poole said
the organization has taken on new work with the change in federal administration, including immigrant rights' training.
"Immigrants have rights," Poole emphasized. "Making sure that folks are aware of what those are and how our organizations and facilities can uphold those rights, that's a really important piece of the work that we've been doing."
According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, if immigration officials come to a person's home, they do not need to answer a knock without a warrant signed by a judge, containing the person's correct name and address. People approached also have the right to remain silent.
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A northwest Texas family is waiting to hear from agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a recent traffic stop.
Jose is in the country illegally and was taken into custody by ICE agents after he and his wife, Ashley, were stopped by Lubbock police. Ashley said the incident was traumatizing for her and their three children.
"My oldest son, he was crying, because they were being really rough with his dad," Ashley explained. "They're slamming him against the window where he's at, and he's asking, 'Why are they taking him?' And I'm trying to explain to my 4-year-old that his dad's here illegally. He doesn't understand that."
Jose, who's from Central America, was eventually released and told to report for a hearing, but Ashley pointed out they have received conflicting information about upcoming court proceedings.
Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an attorney in Austin representing the family, said they will fight to keep Jose from being deported. She added the couple had hired an attorney to get Jose his Green Card.
"This story highlights the fact that ICE is not just apprehending and placing people with criminal histories into immigration detention," Lincoln-Goldfinch noted. "Now, because of this incident, Jose has been placed into deportation proceedings. And this is one more person in the already backlogged immigration court system."
Ashley added if Jose is deported, she and their children will go to Central America with him.
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