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Children at the Dilley, TX facility
Source: Charles Reed,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement |
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Office of Immigration Issues have been deeply engaged in the struggle to end the unjust incarceration of asylum-seeking migrant mothers and children in three family detention facilities. On Friday, July 24, a U.S. District Judge ruled that this detention is illegal. Read more below, including a statement by Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of PC(USA).
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***PRESS RELEASE***
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2015
Contact: Shaina Aber 202-629-5918
saber@jesuits.org
Faith Leaders Celebrate Court Decision on Family Detention;
Call for Administration to Comply
WASHINGTON –
Late on Friday, July 24, 2015, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled that the Obama
Administration’s practice of detaining immigrant families violates the 1997
settlement in Flores v. Meese and all families, excluding those who pose a
flight or national security risk, must be released as soon as possible.
The Flores settlement set
guidelines for the detention of unaccompanied migrant children: if they are
detained, they should be held in the least restrictive environment possible,
cared for by licensed professionals. Judge Gee ruled that the settlement also
applies to children detained with their mothers. She has given the federal
government until August 3, 2015 to respond, or she will implement measures to
enforce her ruling. Over the past two months the federal government and the
plaintiffs have failed repeatedly to reach an agreement.
In response to the influx of
almost 70,000 Central American families seeking asylum last year, the federal
government began to detain mothers and children en masse in three dedicated
facilities – Karnes City, Texas; Dilley, Texas; and Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Since June 2014, 6,300 mothers and children have been booked into a family
detention center. Currently, 1,700 mothers and children are being detained,
even after Department of Homeland Security began their release of some mothers
and children who have demonstrated a credible fear of returning to their
country. According to the Women’s Refugee Commission, 88% of recently detained
mothers have passed screenings for credible fear of return to their countries
of origin.
The challenge to family
detention came from counsel on behalf of several detained mothers. DHS
responded with disappointment in the ruling, maintaining the government’s need
for detention as a means of responding to mass influxes of immigrants at the
border, such as the surge last summer.
Advocates, including dozens
of faith groups, rejoice in Judge Gee’s ruling and plea for the Obama administration
and DHS to comply. They will continue to push for the decisive end to this
inhumane and immoral practice.
Read faith leader statements
below.
“I applaud the July 24,
2015, ruling by Federal Judge Dolly Gee, joining the chorus denouncing family
detention, reaffirming that migrant children must be released to foster care or
relatives and placed in the least restrictive environment possible. Her ruling echoes the prophet Isaiah’s call
to seek to “correct oppression” (Is. 1:17) and enables our nation to better
“speak out in defense of the poor” (Prov. 31:8-9).
Family detention exacerbates
the trauma families have already experienced, profits prison companies,
isolates legitimate asylum seekers from services, and constrains hope that
liberty might ever be found. Judge Gee’s
order instructs the administration to develop a plan to release the mothers and
children “without unnecessary delay.” I strongly urge the administration not to
appeal Judge Gee’s decision. It is not illegal to seek asylum, and mothers and
children should not be treated like prisoners. Around the U.S., our members
have stood with faith partners in ditches outside centers to pray, have signed
letters, visited legislators and White House staff, provided education, and
made calls to build momentum for mercy and to say resoundingly that family
detention is immoral. Our prayer is that it will end.”
The Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and
President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the U.S. and Canada
“Church World Service
applauds Judge Gee’s ruling. The criminalization and detention of families
seeking asylum and refuge is a moral stain on our nation. Our country has a
moral and legal obligation to respect asylum and protection laws. CWS will
continue to advocate for the immediate release of families held in detention
centers and the reduction in the overall use of detention”
The Rev. John L. McCullough, President and CEO
of Church World Service
“We are heartened by the
judge’s decision to end the policy of detaining immigrant women and children. A
policy that blames women and children for fleeing violence, puts them in
detention, and then expedites their deportation directly contradicts our values
as people of faith and a nation of immigrants.”
Scott Wright, Director of the Columban Center for
Advocacy and Outreach
"We commend U.S.
District Judge Dolly Gee for her wisdom and justice in the Flores ruling that
is consistent with Catholic Social Justice Teaching and highlights this
country’s commitment to life, our concern for the most vulnerable, and our
steadfast allegiance to dignity for all. This decision enlivens the truth of
Pope Francis’ statement, “No cell is so isolated as to exclude the Lord, none.
He is there, ... His paternal and maternal love reaches everywhere.” (Pope
Francis, Vatican City, Audience for National Congress of Italian Prison
Chaplains, 10/23/2013.) We commit our prayers and resources to
oppose future appeals to this decision."
Sr. Louise Gallahue, DC, Vistatrix of the Daughters
of Charity of the Province of St. Louise
“Our faith compels us to
seek a complete end to the failed policy of family detention. We urge the
administration not to appeal Judge Gee’s ruling that detaining children
violates U.S. law. The administration should cease allowing private prisons to
profit off of jailing children. We must instead whole-heartedly turn towards
community-based alternatives that both keep families together and answer to
that of God in the women and children seeking refuge.”
Diane Randall, Executive Secretary for the Friends
Committee on National Legislation
“Our Jewish values and
history call us to protect life and to love the stranger. As American Jews, we
must work to ensure that anyone who reaches our border is afforded safety and
dealt with fairly. This ruling confirms that the U.S. government is not living
up to its obligation of ensuring the proper care of children in its custody.
The Jewish community has long supported policies that promote human rights and
ensure the protection of children. We must continue to press our government to
live up to these ideals.”
Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Vice
President for Community Engagement at
HIAS, the global Jewish nonprofit that
protects refugees.
“The Leadership Conference
of Women Religious (LCWR) welcomes the recent ruling by U.S. District Judge
Dolly Gee which we trust will put an end to the detention of immigrant children
and their mothers. We urge President Obama and Secretary of Homeland Security
Jeh Johnson to implement the court’s finding as rapidly as possible. We
continue to be concerned about the failure of our present immigration system to
treat all with the dignity and respect that is their God-given right.”
Executive Director, Sister Joan Marie Steadman, CSC
“We welcome the Judge’s
ruling that no child belongs in a secure and unlicensed detention facility and
strongly agree that parents should be released together with their children
whenever possible. No child or family belongs in jail. Lutherans, and people of
faith in communities all across America, stand ready to welcome and embrace our
new neighbors as they are released from family detention facilities.”
Linda Hartke, CEO and President, Lutheran Immigration
and Refugee Service
“The National Advocacy
Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd applauds Judge Gee's ruling that
condemns the incarceration of women and children. We hope the Obama administration will abide
by her wise and compassionate decision and not appeal. These incarcerated women and children have
suffered enough.”
Lawrence Couch, Director of the National Advocacy
Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
“We at NETWORK welcome the
US District Court ruling that hopefully begins the end of family detention of
undocumented immigrants. The Court recognizes the reality that we have been
advocating as common sense: children and their mothers do not belong in
prison-like settings. We are extremely grateful to Judge Dolly Gee for helping
to ensure that children and their mothers will now await their asylum hearings
in safe surroundings and not in custody. We urge the Administration to put
families first by not appealing this decision. “
Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, Director of NETWORK, A National
Catholic Social Justice Lobby
“So many in the faith
community have been praying for something, such as Judge Gee's ruling, to
advance the movement to end family detention. Today, we rejoice and continue to
pray that the government will not appeal this decision and that, soon, thousands
of asylum-seeking mothers and children will be freed.”
The Reverend Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk,
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
"The Sisters of Mercy
celebrate Judge Dolly Gee's ruling on family detention. We ask the Obama
administration to take immediate actions to end the shameful policy of
incarcerating refugee women and children. President Obama's decision to appeal
the ruling or comply with Judge Gee's findings will determine his legacy on
immigration, as much as his fight for comprehensive immigration reform and
deferred action."
Sr. Patricia McDermott, President of the Sisters of
Mercy of the Americas
"The court decision is
a striking affirmation in defense of vulnerable Central American children and
mothers and on behalf of the rights of asylum-seekers widely. We urge the Obama
administration not to appeal the court's ruling, but to embrace it, to abide by
it — and to immediately release all mothers and children now being held, so
they can await their asylum hearings in compliance, yet in the safety and
freedom they've been denied.
It is time to close the door
on this painful and shameful policy. Not jailing children and mothers is a
legacy that befits the President."
The Rev. William Schulz, President and Chief
Executive Officer, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
“United Methodist Women
members have been actively engaged in efforts to end family detention: marching
outside the detention center in Dilley, Texas; using social media; sending
postcards to President Obama; and sharing and mobilizing at Mission u events
across the country. United Methodist Women celebrates this legal victory and
urges the administration not to appeal this ruling. Mothers and children should
be released from detention immediately. Furthermore, release from detention
should not entail separating mothers and children; demanding exorbitant bonds;
forcing mothers to wear GPS monitoring devices; or expediting the deportation
of mothers and children. We seek a policy that guarantees due process for all
including appeals on deportation orders, and which ends all family detention
without an undue burden on families that have suffered more than enough.”
Harriett Jane Olson, General Secretary and CEO,
United Methodist Women
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