Last week, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) joined 122 of her House Democratic colleagues led by Representative Pramilia Jayapal (WA-7) in introducing the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, legislation to enact guardrails and oversight on immigration detention, and to ensure civil and human rights are protected.
“I have seen firsthand the consequences of incompetence, cruelty and inhumane treatment that flourishes when private prison corporations are allowed to profit off suffering, including at Camp East Montana,” said Congresswoman Escobar. “The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act is an urgent and necessary step toward ending such abuse that’s central to the Trump administration. I’m grateful to Representatives Jayapal and Smith for introducing this bill which establishes crucial oversight and basic human-rights protections that this administration has systematically dismantled.”
Since President Trump returned to office, the use of immigration detention has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels, with over 66,000 people detained. During that period of time, 23 people have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. Nearly 73 percent of those detained have no criminal convictions, and many of those with convictions have only minor offenses, including traffic violations.
Detained people in these facilities are being held in inhumane living conditions, with reports of overcrowding forcing 35 men to share one toilet and sleep head to toe on concrete floors, of people being served only a cup of rice a day or rotting food, and of people having their medications withheld or being denied necessary medical care. Further, the Trump Administration has restarted the practice of detaining families and children, which has long been criticized as unsafe and inflicting irreversible harm on children.
The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act would:
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Repeal mandatory detention;
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Prohibit the detention of families and children in family detention;
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Create a presumption of release and impose a higher burden of proof to detain primary caregivers and vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, survivors of torture or gender-based violence, people with serious mental or physical illness or disability, LGBTQ individuals, asylum seekers, and people over the age of 60;
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Phase out the use of private detention facilities and jails over a three-year period;
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Require DHS to establish civil detention standards that provide, at minimum, the level of protection in the American Bar Association’s Civil Immigration Detention Standards;
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Mandate the DHS Inspector General to conduct unannounced inspections with meaningful penalties for failure to comply with standards; and
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Require DHS to admit Members of Congress to detention facilities for unannounced inspections.
