Terry Keleher

Spotlight: Inhumane Immigrant Detention System

A new video “A Hidden System” sheds light on the federal government’s failure to uphold due process and human rights for immigrants being held in detention.

More than 66 men and women have died in immigrant detention under the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the New York Times and Washington Post, as untold others are being held in unsafe conditions.

The video, by the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), is based on the June 19 Night of 1,000 Conversations vigil and action ICIRR held at the Broadview Detention Center near Chicago, where people of faith came out to protest the inhumane treatment of immigrants.

According to ICIRR, “This action was just one example of how people are beginning to speak out against the conditions in which immigrant men and women are being separated from their families, locked up, and denied fair trials.”

Current efforts such as these, that unmask the secrecy of shameful government conduct and put a human face on the untold emotional and physical suffering by immigrant families, are critical for advancing immigrant rights, racial justice and human rights.

Posted at 11:00 AM, Aug 01, 2008 in Detention | Permalink | View Comments