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Collaboration to petition for comprehensive detention standards
By Peter Prengaman
Asian-American Press
January 25, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC (January 25, 2007) Eighty-four immigration detainees, the National Immigration Project of the
National Lawyers Guild, and six other immigrant rights organizations will formally petition the Department of
Homeland Security today (DHS) to issue regulations, under the Administrative Procedures Act, governing
detention standards for immigration detainees. Currently, the treatment of immigration detainees, including living
conditions, health care, and access to legal materials, is governed by a DHS detention manual, which is neither
legally enforceable nor universally applied.
"DHS is one of the largest jailers in the world," said Paromita Shah, Associate Director of the National Immigration
Project of the National Lawyers Guild, which organized the petition effort. "But it behaves like a lawless local
sheriff. The refusal to adopt comprehensive, binding regulations has contributed to a system in which
thousands of immigration detainees are routinely denied necessary medical care, visitation, legal materials, or
functioning telephones."
"I was detained for six years," said Rafiu Abimbola, one of the detainee petitioners. "The telephones frequently
did not work and legal materials were unavailable or out of date. Because I was managing my case on my own,
this was extremely hard for me. DHS did not attempt to fix these problems. When I complained to the jail, I never
received a response, and sometimes was punished for complaining. There are no consequences to the
government for failing to obey its own standards."
Last week, a report by the DHS Office of Inspector General, based on an audit of five facilities where
immigration detainees have been held, confirmed the existence of widespread violations of the agency's
detention manual and flaws in the detention standard compliance monitoring process.
"The DHS manual fails to address many basic aspects of detention," said Michael Wishnie, a law professor who
supervised the preparation of the petition. "And what standards the manual does include are weak and
unenforceable. It is time for DHS to act like the mature detention agency it has become."
The need for enforceable, uniform standards that establish clear lines of accountability is especially critical in
light of the patchwork system of detention currently employed to house detainees: in addition to using its own
facilities, DHS contracts with local jails and privately operated prisons for this purpose. By issuing detention
regulations that carry the force of law, the government will be better able to ensure humane and uniform
treatment of detainees and prevent future violations.
"The standards need some teeth or people will continue to get hurt," added Camal Marchabeyoglu, a detainee
petitioner released from the Correctional Corporation of America's San Diego facility.
The additional petitioners are the American Immigration Lawyers Association, American Immigration Law
Foundation Legal Action Center, Casa de Proyecto Libertad, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., Families for
Freedom, and National Immigrant Justice Center. The petition was prepared by students at New York University
School of Law, under the supervision of Professor Wishnie, now at Yale Law School.
By Peter Prengaman
Asian-American Press
January 25, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC (January 25, 2007) Eighty-four immigration detainees, the National Immigration Project of the
National Lawyers Guild, and six other immigrant rights organizations will formally petition the Department of
Homeland Security today (DHS) to issue regulations, under the Administrative Procedures Act, governing
detention standards for immigration detainees. Currently, the treatment of immigration detainees, including living
conditions, health care, and access to legal materials, is governed by a DHS detention manual, which is neither
legally enforceable nor universally applied.
"DHS is one of the largest jailers in the world," said Paromita Shah, Associate Director of the National Immigration
Project of the National Lawyers Guild, which organized the petition effort. "But it behaves like a lawless local
sheriff. The refusal to adopt comprehensive, binding regulations has contributed to a system in which
thousands of immigration detainees are routinely denied necessary medical care, visitation, legal materials, or
functioning telephones."
"I was detained for six years," said Rafiu Abimbola, one of the detainee petitioners. "The telephones frequently
did not work and legal materials were unavailable or out of date. Because I was managing my case on my own,
this was extremely hard for me. DHS did not attempt to fix these problems. When I complained to the jail, I never
received a response, and sometimes was punished for complaining. There are no consequences to the
government for failing to obey its own standards."
Last week, a report by the DHS Office of Inspector General, based on an audit of five facilities where
immigration detainees have been held, confirmed the existence of widespread violations of the agency's
detention manual and flaws in the detention standard compliance monitoring process.
"The DHS manual fails to address many basic aspects of detention," said Michael Wishnie, a law professor who
supervised the preparation of the petition. "And what standards the manual does include are weak and
unenforceable. It is time for DHS to act like the mature detention agency it has become."
The need for enforceable, uniform standards that establish clear lines of accountability is especially critical in
light of the patchwork system of detention currently employed to house detainees: in addition to using its own
facilities, DHS contracts with local jails and privately operated prisons for this purpose. By issuing detention
regulations that carry the force of law, the government will be better able to ensure humane and uniform
treatment of detainees and prevent future violations.
"The standards need some teeth or people will continue to get hurt," added Camal Marchabeyoglu, a detainee
petitioner released from the Correctional Corporation of America's San Diego facility.
The additional petitioners are the American Immigration Lawyers Association, American Immigration Law
Foundation Legal Action Center, Casa de Proyecto Libertad, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., Families for
Freedom, and National Immigrant Justice Center. The petition was prepared by students at New York University
School of Law, under the supervision of Professor Wishnie, now at Yale Law School.
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