COLORLINES

Immigrant Family Detention Could Return to Texas

by Jorge Rivas on January 25 2012, 1:01PM

In 2009, the federal government stopped detaining families in Texas and cancelled plans to build new family detention facilities as advocates made clear that the practice was inhumane.

Topics: Immigration, /NOW Blog

Documentary Pries Open the Door to Immigrant Detention Centers

by Seth Freed Wessler on October 18 2011, 10:03AM

Latina journalist Maria Hinojosa’s “Lost in Detention” airs tonight on PBS’ Frontline. Colorlines.com spoke with Hinojosa about reporting the film, and the up-close reality of warehousing immigrants awaiting deportation.

Topics: Immigration, Media

Obama’s Ongoing Detention Disaster

by Catherine Traywick on October 21 2010, 11:10AM

Promises, promises of reform, but still no follow through.

Topics: Immigration

ICE Forces Counties to Join Controversial Deportation Program

by Seth Freed Wessler on October 12 2010, 3:40PM

While the government forges ahead, activists are back at the drawing board.

Topics: Immigration, Immigration

Obama Administration Brags About Record Year of Deportations

by Julianne Hing on October 8 2010, 9:53AM

DHS calls system “thoughtful.” Indiscriminate and out-of-control are more apt adjectives.

Topics: Immigration

Deportation Horror: A Journey From Texas to Bangladesh

by Seth Freed Wessler, Brian Palmer on October 7 2010, 4:59PM

Shahed Hossain describes his harrowing ordeal to ColorLines videographer Brian Palmer.

Topics: Deportation Dragnet, Immigration

How Immigration Reform Got Caught in the Deportation Dragnet

by Seth Freed Wessler on October 7 2010, 10:36AM

Shahed Hossain’s shocking story reveals why Obama will have to use his power to halt mass deportations for any reform to work.

Topics: Deportation Dragnet, Immigration

ICE Policy Leaves Detainees With No Legal Rep, Study Finds

by Seth Freed Wessler on September 15 2010, 11:26AM

Nearly 80 percent housed in places where they can’t get help in court.

Topics: Immigration

Obama Halts 17K Deportations, But Record Number Await Hearings

by Seth Freed Wessler on August 31 2010, 10:44AM

Nearly a quarter million immigrants still await a hearing in their deportation cases.

Topics: Immigration

Human Rights Watch: ICE Won’t Protect Women from Sexual Abuse

by Michelle Chen on August 25 2010, 12:59PM

Human Rights Watch has issued a scathing indictment of Homeland Security’s utter failure to protect women from abuse and harassment in detention.

Topics: Immigration, On Gender

Women Detainees Sexually Abused as ICE Polices Itself

by Michelle Chen on August 25 2010, 10:28AM

Sexual abuse cases at a Texas detention facility reveals ICE’s failures to protect women.

Topics: Immigration, On Gender

For ICE Prisons, a Blank One-Year Progress Report

by Michelle Chen on August 6 2010, 10:45AM

Today marks one year since ICE promised to fix the detention system. So far, there’s little to celebrate.

Topics: Immigration, On Gender

Salvadoran Man Commits Suicide in Immigration Detention

by Seth Freed Wessler on July 21 2010, 5:27PM

Jose Nelson Reyes-Zelaya had been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for a day when he was found dead after what officials called “apparent asphyxiation.”

Topics: Immigration

Sex Assault Charges Back in ICE Detention Centers

by Seth Freed Wessler on June 3 2010, 11:10AM

Immigration and Customs Enforcement quietly announced last week that it is investigating alleged sexual assault at a privately run immigrant detention center in Texas. The incident is the latest in a string of sexual assault charges and convictions at Texas…

Topics: Immigration

Deportation “Quota”—What It Really Means

by Hatty Lee, Hatty Lee on March 31 2010, 5:42PM

In a bout of messaging confusion, the Washington Post reported that James M. Chaparro, head of detention and removal operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced the agency was well on its way to deporting a record 150,000 people with…

Topics: Immigration

Torn Apart by Deportation

by Julianne Hing, Seth Wessler, Jorge Rivas on October 22 2009, 12:00PM

ColorLines investigates the effects of deportation on families of color. Introducing a four-part series.

Topics: Immigration

Torn Apart, Families Struggle to Stay Together

by Seth Freed Wessler on October 22 2009, 9:44AM

This piece was co-authored by Seth Wessler and Julianne Hing. In recent months, the Obama administration has announced plans to expand the 287(g) program despite widespread abuses and racial profiling. It’s also pouring money into “Secure Communities,” a program that…

Topics: Immigration

Introduction: Torn Apart

by Julianne Hing on October 20 2009, 12:00PM

From New York to Jamaica, families struggle to stay together.

Topics: Immigration