This is a Democratic administration that supposedly supports immigration
reform. It is asking to continue to keep women and children in terrible,
privately owned prisons in order to discourage other poor, desperate people
from coming to this country in order to try to have better lives. This is
another example of when the rhetoric of Democrats doesn't match their
actions.
Miriam
Laughland writes: "The Obama administration has urged a federal judge to
reassess a ruling that ordered the release of thousands of immigrant mothers
and children from family detention centres, arguing that the controversial
federal facilities are an effective tool to deter migrants from crossing the
southern border into the United States."
Immigrants from El Salvador and Guatemala who entered the country illegally
board a bus after they were released from a family detention center in San
Antonio, Texas. (photo: Eric Gay/AP)
Justice Department Asks Judge to Leave Migrant Families in Detention Centers
By Oliver Laughland, Guardian UK
09 August 15
A response to ruling says June reforms for speeding release of detainees are
enough and that facilities are an effective tool to deter border crossings
The Obama administration has urged a federal judge to reassess a ruling that
ordered the release of thousands of immigrant mothers and children from
family detention centres, arguing that the controversial federal facilities
are an effective tool to deter migrants from crossing the southern border
into the United States.
In a 52-page response to a decision made last month by Judge Dolly Gee in
the federal district court for central California, the US Department of
Justice argues that the ruling could be used by human traffickers "who are
known to exploit changes in immigration policy" and "could cause another
notable increase in the numbers of parents choosing to cross the border with
their children".
The government's response, however, concedes that Border Patrol agents have
apprehended only 24,901 family members so far this fiscal year, compared
with 68,445 in total last year, a 55% annual decrease.
Gee ruled in July that the federal government's two privately run family
detention centres in Texas were operated in a manner that violated a 1997
court settlement, which requires migrant children be held in the least
restrictive facilities possible and be granted bail in all but exceptional
circumstances.
The detention centres at Dilley and Karnes County, along with a publicly
managed centre in Berks County, near Philadelphia, have been broadly
criticised by migrant advocates as well as a group of 136 House Democrats,
for their poor facilities and the lengthy periods - in some cases over a
year - of detention. A number of protests and hunger strikes have broken out
at the Texas facilities in recent months.
The response filed late on Thursday, however, argues that a raft of reforms
aimed at speeding up the processing of protection claims at the centres,
announced by homeland security secretary Jeh Johnson in June, should
mitigate against Gee's decision by shortening the average time of detention.
The submission argues that 60% of detainees brought to the centre between 28
June and 11 July had been released or removed within 30 days, compared with
the last six months of 2014 when just 21% had been released within a month.
It also argues that Gee's ruling, if enforced, would effectively give
Department of Homeland Security officials only five days to initiate removal
proceedings before mandatory release of a detainee family. This, the
submission argues, "would functionally terminate the ability of DHS to place
families into expedited removal or reinstatement proceeding".
The government currently detains almost 1,500 mothers and children at the
three facilities; 1,182 in Dilley, 193 in Karnes, and 76 in Berks County.
The formal response to Gee's decision was met with sharp criticism from
immigrant advocates, who point out the vast majority of detainees are asylum
seekers fleeing persecution in Central and South America.
"We are deeply disappointed that the Obama administration has continued
arguing in favor of family detention - which has been widely discredited by
the human rights community as well as formerly detained women who have
directly experienced the re-traumatizing impacts of this practice," said
Miriam Yeung, co-chair of the migrant's rights group We Belong Together.
"The administration's experiment over the past two years has proven that
family detention is an unworkable solution to address our country's broken
immigration system. Mothers and children are paying the price," she added.
A group of House Democrats, including representatives Zoe Lofgren and
Lucille Roybal-Allard - two of the leading authors in the letter to
secretary Johnson earlier in the year - issued a statement on Friday, urging
the Obama administration to discontinue its fight against the ruling.
"The overwhelming evidence shows that detention facilities are harmful to
the health and wellbeing of children, and the facts show that these asylum
seekers will show up for their immigration hearings if they are placed in
alternatives to jail," the statement said.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Immigrants from El Salvador and Guatemala who entered the country illegally
board a bus after they were released from a family detention center in San
Antonio, Texas. (photo: Eric Gay/AP)
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/07/obama-administration-defends-
immigration-detention-facilitieshttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/
07/obama-administration-defends-immigration-detention-facilities
Justice Department Asks Judge to Leave Migrant Families in Detention Centers
By Oliver Laughland, Guardian UK
09 August 15
A response to ruling says June reforms for speeding release of detainees are
enough and that facilities are an effective tool to deter border crossings
he Obama administration has urged a federal judge to reassess a ruling that
ordered the release of thousands of immigrant mothers and children from
family detention centres, arguing that the controversial federal facilities
are an effective tool to deter migrants from crossing the southern border
into the United States.
In a 52-page response to a decision made last month by Judge Dolly Gee in
the federal district court for central California, the US Department of
Justice argues that the ruling could be used by human traffickers "who are
known to exploit changes in immigration policy" and "could cause another
notable increase in the numbers of parents choosing to cross the border with
their children".
The government's response, however, concedes that Border Patrol agents have
apprehended only 24,901 family members so far this fiscal year, compared
with 68,445 in total last year, a 55% annual decrease.
Gee ruled in July that the federal government's two privately run family
detention centres in Texas were operated in a manner that violated a 1997
court settlement, which requires migrant children be held in the least
restrictive facilities possible and be granted bail in all but exceptional
circumstances.
The detention centres at Dilley and Karnes County, along with a publicly
managed centre in Berks County, near Philadelphia, have been broadly
criticised by migrant advocates as well as a group of 136 House Democrats,
for their poor facilities and the lengthy periods - in some cases over a
year - of detention. A number of protests and hunger strikes have broken out
at the Texas facilities in recent months.
The response filed late on Thursday, however, argues that a raft of reforms
aimed at speeding up the processing of protection claims at the centres,
announced by homeland security secretary Jeh Johnson in June, should
mitigate against Gee's decision by shortening the average time of detention.
The submission argues that 60% of detainees brought to the centre between 28
June and 11 July had been released or removed within 30 days, compared with
the last six months of 2014 when just 21% had been released within a month.
It also argues that Gee's ruling, if enforced, would effectively give
Department of Homeland Security officials only five days to initiate removal
proceedings before mandatory release of a detainee family. This, the
submission argues, "would functionally terminate the ability of DHS to place
families into expedited removal or reinstatement proceeding".
The government currently detains almost 1,500 mothers and children at the
three facilities; 1,182 in Dilley, 193 in Karnes, and 76 in Berks County.
The formal response to Gee's decision was met with sharp criticism from
immigrant advocates, who point out the vast majority of detainees are asylum
seekers fleeing persecution in Central and South America.
"We are deeply disappointed that the Obama administration has continued
arguing in favor of family detention - which has been widely discredited by
the human rights community as well as formerly detained women who have
directly experienced the re-traumatizing impacts of this practice," said
Miriam Yeung, co-chair of the migrant's rights group We Belong Together.
"The administration's experiment over the past two years has proven that
family detention is an unworkable solution to address our country's broken
immigration system. Mothers and children are paying the price," she added.
A group of House Democrats, including representatives Zoe Lofgren and
Lucille Roybal-Allard - two of the leading authors in the letter to
secretary Johnson earlier in the year - issued a statement on Friday, urging
the Obama administration to discontinue its fight against the ruling.
"The overwhelming evidence shows that detention facilities are harmful to
the health and wellbeing of children, and the facts show that these asylum
seekers will show up for their immigration hearings if they are placed in
alternatives to jail," the statement said.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
