Learn about the Immigration Detention System
Immigration Detention in the United States
Many informed citizens are familiar with the immigration headlines in 2020, including: the crisis for asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border; controversial policies of separating families and violating the rights of immigrant children; as well as the continuing fight to save DACA amidst Supreme Court battles. However, often avid news readers are less familiar with “interior” immigration enforcement and the system of immigration detention that touches every state in the US, including Indiana. For a brief overview, check out the Detention Watch Network’s Detention 101 or this outstanding, interactive multi-media history of the detention system from the Marshall Project from September 2019.
In short, more than 50,000 people are held in over 200 facilities (both private facilities and contracted county jails) every day representing a troubling extension of the US mass incarceration system despite the fact that deportations do not lower crime and that the current Administration has detained fewer immigrants with criminal convictions than in the past. In addition to the problems in the US criminal justice system, the immigration system brings additional bureaucratic hurdles, lapses in oversight, and deadly and traumatic health consequences.
Detention IN INDIANA
All individuals in ICE custody who reside in Indiana (along with Illinois, Wisconsin, and Kentucky) who have cases before the immigration court are under the jurisdiction of the Chicago Immigration Court and the Chicago Field Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). There are 45,000 pending cases with the Chicago Immigration Court with an average wait time of 821 days before a case is adjudicated (represents both detained and non-detained cases).
Immigrants detained in central and southern Indiana are typically held briefly at an ICE holding center in Indianapolis then sent to detention centers around the midwest, often first being detained at the Clay County Detention Center in Brazil Indiana, which has the capacity to hold at least 65 individuals in ICE custody at time according to the most recent disclosures from 2015. In the past, individuals have been held at Clay County for 2-3 weeks before being moved to one of the seven other jails in Illinois (McHenry County Jail, Kankakee County Jail, Pulaski County Jail), Kentucky (Boone County Jail), or Wisconsin (Kenosha County Detention Center, Kenosha County Jail, or Dodge County Jail) for the duration of their stay in detention which can range from a couple months to a year plus in some cases.
EFFECT ON HOOSIER FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES
Nearly 5% of Indiana residents are immigrants. An additional 5% of residents are native-born US citizens who have at least one immigrant parent, which means that when individuals are detained in ICE custody or deported, this internal enforcement causes extensive family separation even though Hoosiers are far from the southern border. For more data on immigrants in Indiana, check out this overview provided by the American Immigration Council. Mariposa stands with other organizations and advocates, including the Detention Watch Network, arguing that ICE should use Alternatives to Detention (ATDs) rather than detaining individuals in US custody, especially in light of data that shows that in 2019, out of 100 asylum seekers, 99 showed up for their non-detained court hearings. Such ATDs would have a tremendously positive effect on the lives of Hoosier families, including families who are undocumented as well as have “mixed-status” (meaning that some families members may be US citizens, others may be legal permanent residents, have temporary status or DACA, and others may be undocumented).
On a macro level, Mariposa supports the #DefundHate campaign which is shining a light on the fact that there has been a 40% increase in ICE’s detention and deportation budget (from $3.2 to $4.1 billion dollars) since 2017 and advocating for reversals in this appropriation increase, as well as marked decreases, in order to have a truly systemic effect on how immigration enforcement is conducted.
Locally, Mariposa continues to provide direct representation to clients as well as advocating for the end of immigration detention in Indiana.