Letter to President Obama Opposing the Expansion of Detention of Immigrant Women and Children

SUMMARY

The Committee on Immigration and Nationality Law authored a letter to President Obama expressing serious concerns over the government’s plan to open a new detention facility for immigrant mothers and children in Dilley, Texas. This would be added to the two detention facilities opened earlier in 2014 for this population. The Committee wrote that the plan to jail unprecedented numbers of families and young children while expediting their removal proceedings will lead to large-scale due process violations and the erroneous removals of legitimate refugees and others entitled to international protection, while imposing unnecessary costs on taxpayers. The women and children in family detention centers have serious humanitarian claims that need development by counsel and careful consideration by asylum officers and judges, not perfunctory processes and rapid deportation.