ACLU Comment on ICE Opening of Additional Detention Facility in Texas

September 23, 2014 12:00 am


Media Contact
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10004
United States

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that it will open and operate a new family detention center in Dilley, Texas in response to the influx of families apprehended along the southwest border.

The facility is expected to open in early November, making it the fourth facility the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using to detain families that cross the Southwest border.

“We’re extremely disappointed in the administration’s decision to dramatically expand the warehousing of vulnerable mothers and children fleeing violence in Central America,” said Laura W. Murphy, Director of ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office. “In just a few short months, the family detention system will have increased from just 90 beds to almost 4,000. History shows us that imprisoning families limits access to due process, harms the physical and mental health of parents and children, and undermines the family structure by stripping parents of their authority. Rather than incarcerating thousands of mothers and children, DHS should be investing in effective, humane, and far less costly alternatives to detention.”

By completing this form, I agree to receive occasional emails per the terms of the ACLU’s privacy policy.

The Latest in Immigrants' Rights

ACLU's Vision

The American Civil Liberties Union is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America.

Learn More About Immigrants' Rights

Immigration Rights issue image

The fundamental constitutional protections of due process and equal protection embodied in our Constitution and Bill of Rights apply to every person, regardless of immigration status.