Prison Rape Elimination Act

Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2003 to address the epidemic of rape and sexual assault in our nation’s detention centers. In 2012, the Department of Justice announced long-awaited rules for complying with the law, representing the first time that the federal government has issued national standards to help end sexual abuse in prisons, jails and youth detention centers. Unfortunately the DOJ rules do not apply to immigration detention facilities. Rather, the Obama administration has tasked the Department of Homeland Security – which has a dismal record of policing its immigration jails and facilities – with making its own rules for complying with PREA.

10/28/2011

Immigration Detention

This Week in Civil Liberties (10/28/11)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 6:29pm

In which states did ACLU lawsuits put a halt to suspicionless, mandatory drug testing?

Which Senators are working to show that the Patriot Act has a secret interpretation that violates the rights of American citizens?

What can be done to protect immigration detainees vulnerable to being sexually abused while in detention?

Victories in Florida and Missouri: No Illegal Drug Testing
On Monday we got some great news in Florida: following an ACLU lawsuit, the state will no longer be allowed to make people applying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) take a drug test in order to get the assistance they need. And in Missouri on Tuesday, a federal judge ruled a policy at Linn State Technical College that would have mandated students pass a drug test as a condition of enrollment is clearly unconstitutional.

10/26/2011

Prison Rape Elimination Act

Battling Prison Rape: Immigration Detainees Deserve Protection, Too

By Joanne Lin, Washington Legislative Office at 3:02pm

Excluding immigration detention from prison rape standards that prevent, detect and respond to sexual assault in custody is unjustifiable and unconscionable.

10/25/2011

Prison Rape Elimination Act

Immigration Detainees Fear Rape and Death

By Lisa Graybill, ACLU of Texas at 5:45pm

Government documents obtained by the ACLU contain nearly 200 allegations of sexual abuse of immigration detainees jailed at detention facilities across the nation.

07/13/2011

Prison Rape Elimination Act

Immigrants in Detention: Forgotten Victims of Prison Rape

By Georgeanne M. Usova, Washington Legislative Office & Georgeanne M. Usova, Washington Legislative Office at 4:23pm

Imagine you are arrested — not for committing a crime, but because of your immigration status. You are then taken to an unfamiliar location and locked up in a detention center, far away from your family and friends, to await complicated, confusing, and potentially very lengthy and confusing deportation proceedings. Most of your interactions are in English, your second (or perhaps even fourth) language. You don't have any legal representation to explain what your rights are or how to apply for relief you may be eligible to receive. And in the midst of this stressful time, you are sexually assaulted by a guard — the very person assigned to protect you from harm. What would you do? Would you tell someone, or stay silent for fear that speaking up might increase your chances of deportation or further abuse? If you decided to come forward, whom would you tell, or trust?

American Civil Liberties Union