Reforming America's Immigration Gulags Becomes Front-Burner Issue

By Roberto Lovato, New America Media. Posted February 3, 2009.

Many new detention reform groups have arisen and established groups like People United have placed immigrant detention near the center of their agenda in the last two years thanks to the constant stream of sad and often bizarre detention stories. "I just spoke with a man being held in the jail where Mr. Newbrough died," said Jeff Winder, a regional organizer with People United. "The man told me that they're cutting even more services to save money. Less than two months after the second death in that prison they're cutting heat, toilet paper, food and other basic services. He even told me that there are 30 lights on the ceiling but that only 5 are turned on. People are crowding under lights just to read."

Winder also pointed to several recent events – a hostage situation in Texas, hunger strikes across the country, legal victories for detainees claiming they were physically and psychologically abused, other deaths in detention – as examples of the "scandal in immigrant detention we see every week." The steady stream of bad detention news is forcing Winder and other activists to find balance in the optimism mirrored by the Obama moment. "There's a real mood of hope in the country. The end of the horrible abuses of Bush is very important and historic. I celebrate that, he said, adding, "But I'm waiting to see what President Obama will do about creating really viable alternatives to detention."

Asked about the alternatives, Winder cited a 1998 government-funded study by the Vera Institute of Justice. The study found that, with a battery of community services costing less than $12 per person per day (versus the national average of $120 per day for people in immigration detention centers) the government could drastically reduce the numbers of people in immigrant detention facilities. "Reducing the number of people is important," said Winder. "But the more important question President Obama will have to answer why we have so many people rotting in immigrant prisons in the first place."

See more stories tagged with: immigration, habeas corpus, obama, deportation, detention

Roberto Lovato, a frequent Nation contributor, is a New York-based writer with New America Media.

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