Jayapal, Booker, and Smith Reintroduce Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act

Press Release

Today, U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and U.S. Representative Adam Smith (WA-09) reintroduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, transformative legislation that ends the inhumane conditions of detention centers and protects the civil and human rights of immigrants. The bill urgently reforms the alarming injustices of a broken, for-profit immigration detention system by ending the use of private detention facilities altogether, repealing mandatory detention, stopping family detention, and prohibiting solitary confinement while also restoring due process and increasing oversight, accountability, and transparency measures.

The legislation will shrink the population of detention centers and promote more humane and less costly community-based alternatives by mandating that all detained immigrants have access to a custody hearing in front of an immigration judge. Vulnerable populations -- including primary caregivers and asylum seekers -- will also be protected. Additionally, the government will be required to show probable cause that someone poses a risk to the community in order to detain them. Importantly, the bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish legally enforceable civil detention standards, and creates a meaningful inspection process at facilities.

"Ending the unjust treatment of immigrants and the inhumane conditions that they are subjected to is going to take far more than removing Donald Trump, it will take removing America's for-profit detention system altogether," said Congresswoman Jayapal. "The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act ends the use of private detention facilities, repeals mandatory detention, promotes community-based alternatives, and restores due process while transforming the entire system so immigrants finally have their human rights and wellbeing protected."

"During the Trump Administration, we saw vividly how our immigration detention system can dehumanize and harm those seeking asylum in the United States. As we work to reform this broken system, we must ensure that how we treat immigrants who come to our nation to seek refuge reflects our American values," said Senator Booker. "Our bill will protect the civil rights of immigrant detainees so that they are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve."

"Immigrants make our country stronger in countless ways and have become an integral part of the fabric of our communities in Washington's ninth district and beyond. However, our broken immigration system enables the inhumane treatment of immigrants and denies them basic protections and due process," said Congressman Smith. "Following four years of attacks that further eroded our asylum and immigration system, we have the opportunity to advance a smarter, more humane vision. Our legislation would reform the immigration detention system to no longer prioritize the unnecessary detention of individuals and families, allowing immigrants to live outside of detention while they await their immigration proceedings. It would end the repugnant for-profit detention system, and enact higher standards of care and robust oversight for immigration detention facilities. The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act recognizes the contributions of immigrants to our communities, brings humanity and basic human rights to a failed immigration system, and takes a big step forward to the kinds of reforms we need across our immigration system."

The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act is endorsed by dozens of organizations across America, including Amnesty International, National Immigrant Justice Center, Women's Refugee Commission, Freedom For Immigrants, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), CASA, National Organization for Women, Asia Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, First Focus Campaign for Children, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Public Counsel, Church World Service, National Partnership for New Americans, and Union for Reform Judaism.

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