(Cross-posted @ Gabacha.com)
Just after the Obama administration decided this week to deny a petition to reform the rules governing conduct in immigration detention, Democratic lawmakers are now proposing bills to strengthen standards in immigrant prisons in order to prevent abuse and deaths of detainees.
Numerous government and nonprofit investigations have found wide-spread misconduct and abuse in the United States immigration detention system. Many inmates have reported being coerced into signing deportation orders. Some claim to have been physically abused by guards. Even the federal government has found unsanitary conditions in the prisons, rotten food and overcrowding. There are also numbers of U.S. citizens who have been detained and deported by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Such abuse has only continued as the immigrant detainee population has gotten bigger mainly because there are few enforceable rules governing detention standards, and when there are, immigration officials usually fail to hold prison operators accountable.
But now, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez and New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand are proposing two pieces of legislation. One, called the "Strong STANDARDS Act," would require the Department of Homeland Security and federal immigration officials to issue detention rules that are enforceable, accountable and legally binding. Another bill, the " Protect Citizens from Unlawful Detention Act," would require immigration officers to follow due process regulations to prevent deportations of U.S. citizens.
Both bills are very important if the detainee abuse in U.S. immigration detention is to be stopped.