DeGette Calls on Obama Administration to End Family Detention

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette called on Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to end the Obama Administration's policy of detaining mothers and children involved in deportation proceedings in jail-like facilities. Rep. DeGette and 135 of her colleagues raised issues ranging from excessive confinement, delays in due process, developmental problems for children, and serious medical concerns in a letter to Secretary Johnson.

"We must prioritize the health and well-being of mothers and children while also prioritizing our enforcement objectives," wrote Rep. DeGette and her colleagues. "Detaining mothers and children in jail-like settings is not the answer. We have an opportunity to do the right thing and are confident that DHS has the capacity to honor our Nation's longstanding commitment both to the protection and well-being of refugee families and to law enforcement and public safety."

Detention policies by the Department of Homeland Security have come under increasing scrutiny, and the letter by Rep. DeGette and her colleagues detailed some of the most disturbing problems affecting some of the most vulnerable individuals being held by the department. DeGette has also called for an end to the department's policy to set a number of beds to always be occupied in detention facilities, which creates an incentive to detain individuals who do not pose a threat to public safety, and urged the department to end the use of immigration detainers.

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