scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 on Immigration Detention

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatma E. Marouf
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tracking System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Public Health Authority ◽  
Immigration Detention ◽  
Immigration And Customs Enforcement ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Detention Facilities ◽  
United States Code

COVID-19 has spread quickly through immigration detention facilities in the United States. As of December 2, 2020, there have been over 7,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases among detained noncitizens. This Article examines why COVID-19 spread rapidly in immigration detention facilities, how it has transformed detention and deportation proceedings, and what can be done to improve the situation for detained noncitizens. Part I identifies key factors that contributed to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in immigration detention. While these factors are not an exhaustive list, they highlight important weaknesses in the immigration detention system. Part II then examines how the pandemic changed the size of the population in detention, the length of detention, and the nature of removal proceedings. In Part III, the Article offers recommendations for mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on detained noncitizens. These recommendations include using more alternatives to detention, curtailing transfers between detention facilities, establishing a better tracking system for medically vulnerable detainees, prioritizing bond hearings and habeas petitions, and including immigration detainees among the groups to be offered COVID-19 vaccine in the initial phase of the vaccination program. The lessons learned from the spread of COVID-19 in immigration detention will hopefully lead to a better response to any future pandemics. In discussing these issues, the Article draws on national data from January 2019 through November 2020 published by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), two agencies within DHS. The main datasets used are detention statistics published by ICE for FY 2019 (Oct. 2018-Sep. 2019), FY 2020 (Oct. 2019-Sep. 2020), and the first two months of FY 2021 (Oct. 2020-Nov. 2020). These datasets include detention statistics about individuals arrested by ICE in the interior of the country, as well as by CBP at or near the border. Additionally, the Article draws on separate data published by CBP regarding the total number of apprehensions at the border based on its immigration authority under Title 8 of the United States Code, as well as the number of expulsions at the border based on its public health authority under Title 42 of the United States Code.

scholarly journals Gender, Violence, and Trauma in Immigration Detention in the United States

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie Cook Heffron
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Due Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Immigration Detention ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Detention Facilities

While international law protects the rights of individuals to seek asylum and to be treated humanely and with dignity, immigration detention, the practice of confining individuals accused of violating immigration law, has surfaced as a growing response to the large numbers of individuals and families on the move throughout the world in search of freedom, safety, and economic security. Detention has long been used as a strategy for enforcement of immigration laws across the globe, and has also been used as a tactic to dissuade and control future migration. The detention of immigrants consistently presents concerns about and allegations of civil and human rights violations and negative bio-psycho-social impacts on those detained. Given the contemporary expansion of the immigration detention system in the United States, this bibliography will focus primarily on the context of immigration detention within the United States. This bibliography includes selected scholarly resources from the social sciences, health, and legal fields to present an overview of immigration detention, the impact on survivors of violence and trauma, and detention alternatives. While the Global Detention Project and other nonprofit organizations aim to track the scope of immigration detention worldwide, numbers of individuals detained, as well as the number and location of detention facilities, immigration detention remain difficult to track. In the United States, the average daily population of immigration detention facilities in the United States had increased from 6,785 in 1994 to more than 38,000 in 2017. That number has risen to closer to 50,000 in recent years and manifests across a wide variety of facilities, including temporary and long-term holding facilities operated by a host of federal, state, local, and private for-profit entities. The US government has broad, though not absolute, power over immigration and immigration detention. Authorization of the detention of immigrants dates back to 1798 with the Alien Enemies Act, which allowed for the detention of immigrants from “hostile” countries during times of war. As of 1875, another series of laws expanded the framework of detention, in particular pertaining to the incarceration of individuals with criminal convictions. Further changes were made in 1952 with the Immigration and Nationality Act, then more drastically in the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which served to begin a decades-long expansion of the US immigration detention system. This expansion has also led to numerous allegations of civil and human rights violations related to due process, exploitative labor practices, sexual and physical abuse, and inadequate medical care, as well as growing concern about the impact of immigration detention on survivors of violence and trauma, particularly children, women, and LGBTQ communities. The author would like to acknowledge the significant contributions of Jessenia Herzberg in researching and reviewing literature on immigration detention.

Weeping in the Playtime of Others: The Obama Administration's Failed Reform of ICE Family Detention Practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dora Schriro
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigration Enforcement ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Obama Administration ◽  
Immigration And Customs Enforcement ◽  
Immigrant Detention ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Trump Administration

The United States has long struggled with the practice of detaining immigrant families and over time, most reform efforts have flagged, if not failed. This paper examines the impact of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) through an exploration of the evolution of the family residential center (FRC) for families in immigration custody, established prior to the 9/11 terrorist attack by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and expanded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in its aftermath. The paper provides an inside look at how policymakers, at various points in the Obama administration, sought to roll back its most infirm practices and the fate of those efforts. It begins with a brief history of family detention in the United States, continues with a summary of the reforms undertaken both early and late in the Obama administration, and examines the significant challenges it faced and the less progressive positions it adopted during its first and second terms in office.The paper concludes with a discussion of reasons for the rapid reversal of its previous reforms and provides recommendations to achieve a civil, civil system of immigration enforcement for families and all others, which means nothing less than the transformation of the immigrant detention system from a criminal to a civil paradigm, consistent with the population and legal authorities.[1] The need for such an effort is all the more urgent in light of executive actions taken in the early days of the Trump administration and their initial outcomes. Among those thwarting admissions are  orders to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to seal the US borders, shun refugees fleeing from war-torn regions until “extreme vetting” measures are put into place, and reassess others who have already been issued visas.  Additional orders issued to ICE expanded and expedited the removal of persons whose conduct could result in charges or convictions as well as those with criminal charges or convictions, resulting in a 38 percent increase in arrests by ICE agents within the first 100 days of the Trump administration (Dickerson 2017b; Duara 2017).        [1] For further discussion of the concept of a civil, civil system of immigration enforcement, see Schriro (2009).

scholarly journals Weeping in the Playtime of Others: The Obama Administration's Failed Reform of ICE Family Detention Practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 452-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dora Schriro
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Obama Administration ◽  
Criminal Charges ◽  
Immigration And Customs Enforcement ◽  
Immigrant Detention ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Trump Administration

The United States has long struggled with the practice of detaining immigrant families and over time, most reform efforts have flagged, if not failed. This paper examines the impact of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) through an exploration of the evolution of the family residential center (FRC) for families in immigration custody, established prior to the 9/11 terrorist attack by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and expanded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in its aftermath. The paper provides an inside look at how policymakers, at various points in the Obama administration, sought to roll back its most infirm practices and the fate of those efforts. It begins with a brief history of family detention in the United States, continues with a summary of the reforms undertaken both early and late in the Obama administration, and examines the significant challenges it faced and the less progressive positions it adopted during its first and second terms in office. The paper concludes with a discussion of reasons for the rapid reversal of its previous reforms and provides recommendations to achieve a civil, civil system of immigration enforcement for families and all others, which means nothing less than the transformation of the immigrant detention system from a criminal to a civil paradigm, consistent with the population and legal authorities.2 The need for such an effort is all the more urgent in light of executive actions taken in the early days of the Trump administration and their initial outcomes. Among those thwarting admissions are orders to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to seal the US borders, shun refugees fleeing from war-torn regions until “extreme vetting” measures are put into place, and reassess others who have already been issued visas. Additional orders issued to ICE expanded and expedited the removal of persons whose conduct could result in charges or convictions as well as those with criminal charges or convictions, resulting in a 38 percent increase in arrests by ICE agents within the first 100 days of the Trump administration (Dickerson 2017b; Duara 2017).

scholarly journals 1651. The Impact of the 2017–2018 Influenza Season on Acute Care Hospitals in the United States: A Qualitative Evaluation of Immediate Responses and Future Preparedness

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S603-S604
Author(s):  
Gavin H Harris ◽  
Kimberly J Rak ◽  
Jeremy M Kahn ◽  
Derek C Angus ◽  
Erin A Caplan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
Acute Care ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Influenza Season ◽  
Acute Care Hospitals ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The 2017–2018 influenza season was characterized by high illness severity, wide geographic spread, and prolonged duration compared with recent years in the United States – resulting in an increased number of emergency department evaluations and hospital admissions. The current study explored how US hospitals perceived the impact of influenza during this time period, including effects on patient volumes, ways in which hospitals responded, and how lessons learned were incorporated into future influenza preparedness. Methods We conducted semi-structured phone interviews with capacity management personnel in short-term acute care hospitals across the United States. A random hospital sample was created using Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services annual reports. Hospitals self-identified key informants who were involved with throughput and capacity. The interview guide was developed and pilot tested by a team of clinicians and qualitative researchers, with interviews conducted between April 2018 and January 2019. We performed thematic content analysis to identify how hospitals experienced the 2017–2018 influenza season. Results We achieved thematic saturation after 53 interviews. Responses conformed to three thematic domains: impacts on staff and patient care, immediate staffing and capacity responses, and future preparedness (Table 1). Hospitals almost universally reported increased emergency department and inpatient volumes that frequently resulted in strain across the hospital. Strain was created by both increased patient volume and staff shortages due to influenza illness. As strategies to address strain, respondents reported the use of new protocols, new vaccination policies, additional staffing, suspected-influenza treatment areas, and more frequent hospital administration meetings. Many hospitals reported increased diversion time. Despite experiencing high levels of strain, some hospitals reported no changes to their future influenza preparation plans. Conclusion Acute care hospitals experienced significant strain as a result of the 2017–2018 influenza season. Hospitals implemented a range of immediate responses to seasonal influenza, but generally did not report future planning specific to influenza. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

The Educational Consequences of Parental Immigration Detention

2020 ◽  
pp. 073112142093774
Author(s):  
Gabriela Gonzalez ◽  
Caitlin Patler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Parental Incarceration ◽  
Immigrant Integration ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Immigration Status ◽  
Immigration Detention ◽  
Academic Trajectories ◽  
Immigration And Customs Enforcement

Every year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement imprisons hundreds of thousands of noncitizens as they await adjudication on their deportation proceedings. Importantly, many detained individuals have lived in the interior of the country for many years and are parents of young, dependent, school-age children living in the United States. This analysis brings together and builds upon research on parental incarceration and international migration. We analyze 104 multigenerational interviews conducted in California with detained parents, their current or former nondetained spouses/partners, and the school-age children they share. Our findings suggest that children’s academic trajectories are seriously disrupted by the trauma, stigma, and strain of parental imprisonment. Moreover, these vulnerabilities are enhanced in unique ways by children’s positionality as members of mixed-immigration-status families facing the possibility of deportation. Our findings suggest that parental immigration detention can have intergenerational consequences for children’s mobility that disrupt traditional pathways of immigrant integration in mixed-immigration-status families.

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