ACLU Applauds Sen. Clinton and Rep. Honda for Language Rights Bill

WASHINGTON – New documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union affirm widespread media reports of unsafe and inhumane conditions at tent facilities used by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to detain people arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border during President Trump’s first term. The documents, obtained as a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the ACLU, ACLU Foundation of Southern California and Farella Braun + Martel LLP in October 2024, reveal that a 2020 report of inspection by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (DHS-CRCL) found as early as 2019 that the government should have considered alternate detention facilities. The discovery comes as the current Trump administration seeks to expand use of tent facilities in service of its dystopian mass deportation program. The findings also come weeks after DHS attempted to shutter the office that investigates civil rights violations in immigration enforcement. “DHS’s own investigations affirm that the government should have never used these tent facilities to detain immigrants in the first place,” said Kyle Virgien, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “As the Trump administration seeks to expand the use of tent facilities, it’s critical that it heed its own findings and ensure that these abusive facilities are never resurrected.” DHS’s report also found that the increase of arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019 required a humanitarian response, which CBP was unable to fulfill, leading to overcrowding and unsafe conditions within tent facilities. Additionally, the report concluded that: Medical care was substandard, with inadequate medical screenings and medical appointments. Some children were sick for days before being seen by a doctor and were even hospitalized because medical staff failed to give them medication. Tent facilities did not have beds, forcing people to sleep on the cement floor with silver mylar blankets. Some had mats to sleep on, however at times it was so crowded that there was not any space on the floor for mats. One facility detaining thousands of people had no working showers at the time of an inspection. Playpens for infants and toddlers were “extremely dirty and not being cleaned or sanitized,” and baby bottles were left sitting out for unknown periods of time where multiple kids could share them, posing a health hazard. CBP’s lack of a timely and effective emergency response plan contributed to the inhumane conditions, which could have been avoided with prior planning. “These records demonstrate that DHS is unfit to hold people in its custody,” said Eva Bitran, director of immigrants’ rights at ACLU SoCal. “Rather than welcoming arriving immigrants with humanity, CBP condemned them to atrocious conditions. The Trump administration must not reopen this shameful chapter in our history.” These documents underscore that CBP’s use of tent facilities in Texas to detain immigrants have caused significant civil rights violations, which have prompted several complaints and investigations. Media outlets have also reported on concerns regarding conditions of confinement at tented facilities in Texas, including lack of medical attention, sexual abuse, COVID-19 and lice outbreaks, and hunger, particularly for migrant children held at these tent facilities. The DHS-CRCL report’s findings underscore that future plans to use tent facilities for immigrant detention would undoubtedly pose similar risks and harm people in CBP detention. “We are pleased with the initial progress in this case so far,” said Farella Braun + Martel LLP partner Jim Day. “We look forward to continuing to support such a great organization doing this important work.” The documents are available here: https://www.aclu.org/documents/aclu-foia-documents-on-cbps-use-of-tent-facilities and https://www.aclu.org/documents/aclu-foia-documents-on-cbps-use-of-tent-facilities-part-2

Habeas Corpus has protected our rights since before America’s founding. Today, the Trump administration has threatened to suspend this right to carry out its unlawful immigration agenda.

MIAMI, Fla. — A federal court today granted a motion for partial summary judgment in Brown v. Ramsay, a federal lawsuit challenging the illegal detention of Peter Sean Brown, a U.S. citizen who was arrested and detained by the Monroe County, Fla. Sheriff’s Office (MSCO) at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The court ruled that Mr. Brown’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated when Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay illegally detained him in April 2018. Mr. Brown was held on an ICE immigration detainer, which had incorrectly identified Mr. Brown as a deportable Jamaican immigrant. The court’s ruling explains that ICE lacked probable cause to issue the detainer in the first place, and the Sheriff’s office could not rely on the detainer to ignore the obvious evidence that Mr. Brown was a citizen: “MCSO cannot abdicate its legal responsibility and turn a blind eye to this information.” ICE’s controversial “detainers” ask state and local law enforcement agencies to re-arrest and detain individuals identified by ICE for up to 48 hours after their state cases have ended. The ruling is a win for immigrants’ rights, demonstrating that – as advocates have long argued – ICE detainers are deeply flawed and local officials act at their own peril when they accept these documents to justify additional detention. Monroe County joins a long list of jurisdictions that have been held liable or settled claims arising from immigration detainer holds. The decision comes amid increasing reports that ICE has arrested, detained, and even deported U.S. citizens as ICE engages in mass deportations. State police have done the same; in Florida, SB 4-C – which makes it a felony for certain undocumented people to enter the state based solely on their immigration history – put U.S. citizens at further risk of arrest and deportation. Last month, a U.S. citizen was wrongfully arrested under the law by local law enforcement who suspected he was undocumented, underscoring the dangers of immigration enforcement by local authorities and causing a federal judge to reiterate that enforcement of the law is currently prohibited because it is likely unconstitutional. Quotes from co-counsel are as follows: “We have seen the ICE detainer system fail time and again, but the County still chose to put Mr. Brown through this nightmare,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy project director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “At a moment in which we are seeing a raft of unlawful immigration arrests of citizens by federal and local authorities, this decision is a key reminder that the Fourth Amendment safeguards us all.” "This case highlights the significant threat posed to U.S. citizens by frequent ICE errors, which are exacerbated when local law enforcement agencies participate in immigration enforcement,” said Amien Kacou, staff attorney at the ACLU of Florida. ““This case makes one thing clear: state and local police who act as ICE’s enforcers do so at their own peril. The Sheriff’s office cannot deflect responsibility onto ICE and ignore its independent duty to ensure there is probable cause before arresting someone like Mr. Brown. His perseverance in this lawsuit reaffirms that the U.S. Constitution protects every Floridian, regardless of citizenship." "We welcome the court’s ruling, which affirms that no person should be unlawfully detained based on flawed immigration enforcement practices,” said Sui Chung, executive director at Americans for Immigrant Justice. “Today’s decision brings long-overdue relief for Mr. Brown, whose unjust legal ordeal should never have happened. The court’s ruling is a strong reminder that law enforcement must uphold constitutional protections for all individuals, regardless of status."

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. / MIAMI – Civil rights organizations today called on the Trump administration to ensure that immigrants’ rights are upheld at the Federal Correctional Institution Leavenworth (FCI Leavenworth) and Federal Detention Center-Miami (FDC-Miami) following reports of frequent illegal and inhumane conditions. In letters to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), advocates detail frequent and systemic failures, including lack of access to legal counsel, medical care, and conditions of confinement at the Kansas and Florida BOP facilities. Advocates’ letters come as the Senate is poised to vote on a reconciliation bill that would provide over $68 billion in taxpayer dollars to expand ICE detention. “The Trump administration’s use of federal prisons to detain immigrants must end. Holding people in extended lockdown, and denying them access to adequate medical care, legal counsel, and even sunlight isn’t just inhumane – it’s illegal,” said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “The taxpayer-funded conditions faced by immigrants held at FCI Leavenworth and FDC-Miami should concern us all.” In a letter to ICE and BOP regarding the conditions at FCI Leavenworth, advocates warn that in just two months, people detained at FCI Leavenworth have experienced a variety of inhumane and illegal conditions, including: Lengthy lockdowns, with some individuals reporting being held in their cells for more than 72 consecutive hours as a result of understaffing, as well as unsanitary conditions. Significant delays in receiving medical care, and when they are seen by staff for treatment, they are not provided with proper care and are instructed to pay for medication, which is in violation of ICE policy. Lack of language access, impacting detained individuals’ ability to seek adequate and timely medical care. Issues with access to telephones at the facility, hindering their ability to call their attorneys or loved ones. Significant mail delays, impacting detained individuals’ ability to prepare their legal cases, as well as receive and send timely legal mailings. Lack of religious services that are otherwise available to people in BOP custody at FCI Leavenworth, in violation of an agreement between ICE and BOP. The civil rights groups – which include the Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Kansans, American Immigration Lawyers’ Association, Federal Public Defender, District of Kansas, Missouri/Kansas Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association, National Immigrant Justice Center, and the Office of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Federal – also argue that the conditions at FCI Leavenworth fall well below what is required by the interagency agreement, BOP and ICE policy, and the Constitution. “Detaining someone and undermining their due process by blocking access to counsel is a clear and unequivocal violation of the Sixth Amendment,” said Michael Sharma-Crawford, a local immigration attorney and the current chair of the Kansas and Missouri chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “That injustice becomes even more severe when it targets civil detainees—people who are not accused of any crime. The harm in these cases is not just amplified; it is indefensible.” Meanwhile, at FDC-Miami, legal service providers have reported serious and pervasive failures to provide detained individuals access to legal documents and legal mail, severely limiting their ability to access and communicate with legal counsel, as well as their ability to apply for protection in the U.S. and to fight their cases in immigration court. Additionally, detained individuals face extreme obstacles in accessing phones to seek counsel and to make outgoing calls to their attorneys, especially during periods of confinement. In a letter sent by the Americans for Immigrant Justice, the ACLU, ACLU of Florida, and Florida Legal Services, advocates argue that these barriers violate due process protections guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment, as well as detained individuals’ First Amendment right to free speech, which includes the right to communicate confidentially with attorneys. “Denying detained immigrants access to legal documents, mail, and phone calls makes it all but impossible to fight and win an immigration case,” said Americans for Immigrant Justice Executive Director Sui Chung. “The systemic denial of due process at FDC-Miami has impacted immigrants who desperately seek refuge and are legally entitled to pursue relief in the United States. Americans for Immigrant Justice is committed to ensuring that immigrants detained at FDC-Miami receive the protections they are due under U.S. law and the U.S. Constitution.” Immigrants’ rights groups and medical experts have repeatedly called out ICE’s history of abuse, pervasive medical neglect, and disregard for the dignity of people in its custody. A June 2024 report from the American Civil Liberties Union, Physicians for Human Rights, and American Oversight found that 95 percent of documented deaths in ICE custody between 2017-2021 were likely preventable. Despite this track record of abuse, ICE signaled plans to expand detention beyond its already staggering capacity of 146 facilities nationwide, despite strong public opposition from immigrants' rights advocates, the media, and members of Congress. Advocates’ letter regarding FCI Leavenworth is available here: https://www.aclu.org/documents/advocacy-letter-re-ice-detention-at-fci-leavenworth Advocates’ letter regarding FDC-Miami is available here: https://www.aclu.org/documents/advocacy-letter-re-ice-detention-at-fdc-miami