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Take Action: Demand Safety and Release from Detention for Immigrants and Asylum Seekers
Posted on Jan 20 2022
One year into President Biden’s term, more immigrants and asylum seekers are now locked up by ICE and at risk of deportation than at the beginning of his term. Despite his stated opposition to private, for-profit prisons, most immigrant detainees are held in just such unsafe and often abusive facilities. The continuing failure of ICE detention facilities is evident in surging COVID infection numbers: a six-fold increase in COVID infections among immigrant detainees from January 3 to January 13.
Many of these detainees have recently crossed the southern border seeking asylum. No one should be locked up for seeking safety or solely because of their immigration status. The Administration is responsible for the safety of people in its custody, and they are failing. Tens of thousands of lives are at stake.
Call your Senators. Call your Congressional Representative. Contact the White House through this email form. Tell them that immigrant detainees must be released from custody while they wait for their hearings. Tell them that no one should be held in unsafe conditions and exposed to COVID because they came to the United States seeking safety.
DHS must swiftly establish an affirmative file review process with a presumption of liberty for people in detention and commit to the individualized consideration of release for all people in ICE custody. This process should prioritize those most vulnerable to harm in custody, including individuals who face a heightened risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19, transgender people, pregnant people, and HIV+ people.
DHS must permit asylum-seekers and immigrants to live in freedom, without surveillance, and supported by sponsors and community-based non-profits should they need assistance navigating the immigration process.
Take action today to demand safety and humane treatment for immigrants and asylum seekers now in detention.