Maria Sacchetti at the Boston Globe has a story about the report’s findings today:
What we basically found is that every day in Massachusetts, around 800 immigrants and asylum-seekers are in detention in county jails around the state waiting to be deported or fighting a legal battle to stay in the country. None of these people are serving sentences for having committed a crime. Yet they spend months, and sometimes years, in cells side-by-side with sentenced criminals, enduring harsh conditions and sometimes abuse at the hands of guards, not knowing when they will be allowed to leave — and all of this at significant taxpayer expense.
Unfair treatment and indefinite detention such as this do not solve the problems of illegal immigration. In fact, they go against the values of our country and the Constitution, and if we allow the government to deny due process for some people, we allow our own freedoms to be threatened.
Coming to, or staying in this country illegally is a crime. Perhaps what we need is a special court just to review the cases of people found to be in this country illegally. To review the asylum case, or decide if they should be deported. Then to prevent them from moving elsewhere, give them a tracking ankle brace to make sure they return home.
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p>The real and only way to solve illegal immigration is to improve the way of life in the countries they come from. Right after we improve the life of the working class poor, and then the lower class poor, and then the totally and completely no hope of feeding themselves or keeping a roof over their heads poor. Not necessarily in that order of course.
Actually, the people we are talking about have not been accused by Immigration and Customs Enforcement of a crime. They are being thrown into jail for civil infractions, like overstaying a visa. Some people think that this should be a crime, but the fact is that it’s not.
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p>And what if Americans abroad were being treated this way, such as students abroad who mistakenly overstayed a visa? That would be wrong, and it’s wrong for the United States to treat people from other countries this way too. In some cases, we’re talking about people who are being thrown in jail with convicted, violent criminals because of problems with paperwork they filled out a decade ago.
and should not be punished with jail time.
Many of the people in these jails are not even illegal.
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p>A truckdriver, originally from Kenya, married to a US citizen, whose immigration case is progressing through the system, with a legal, valid, social security number was stopped by the state police on November 15 for routine truck check. ICE was called by the police when he noticed the man’s accent. He was arrested and thrown in jail for one week, until his lawyer proved that he was legal. His truck was towed from the scene.
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p>A Guatemalan high school teacher, with a legal work permit,
went to Immigration offices in Boston to renew his work permit and to report a change in local address. He was arrested at Immigration and thrown in jail for two months, until his lawyer could prove that his address really had changed.
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p>A Russian immigrant truckdriver from Seattle Washington was stopped in Massachusetts for routine truck check. State police noticed his Russian accent. He had work permit and his immigration application was proceeding in Washington state. He was held at Plymouth County House of Correction for 8 months until his Seattle attorney could get USCIS to release him.
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p>These immigrants are not entitled to a phone call or a lawyer when they are arrested. It often takes days for their families to find out what happened to them. And these are the legal immigrants!
my cousin, who has lived and worked in the usa for decades on a green card (she is an attorney), was refused re-entry a few years ago and put back on the next plane to the netherlands. there was absolutely nothing about her that called for or deserved suspicion. her documents were all up to date and in order. the refusal of re-entry was totally capricious, and she was allowed to re-enter the usa on her next attempt a few days later. lucky for her that her employer wouldn’t fire her because she was several days late in returning from vacation due to the immigration idiots working the border. her story did not involve jail time (thank the lucky stars!), but as you say, this is how we’re treating legal immigrants, and it is appalling.