Women in Immigration Detention Centers

“The U.S. government detained approximately 380,000 people in immigration custody in 2009 in a hodgepodge of about 350 facilities at an annual cost of more than $1.7 billion.” (1)

"Demonstrators, many belonging to immigrants rights groups, held a rally to protest a $60 million, 2,000-inmate detention center in Brownsville, Texas -- the largest prison in the United States. This facility is criticized by many as a holding camp for illegal immigrants. These fears certainly aren't assuaged by the government's pride in the facility as a "centerpiece in their crackdown on illegal immigration."

Women in an immigration detention center

   Approximately 10% of all the undocumented immigrants in the United States are immigrant women. In the U.S., immigrant women are more susceptible to exploitation, abuse and human rights violations. These women face certain challenges due to the inequalities between men and women, but also because of the additional responsibilities of family and home. At the workplace, immigrant women may suffer gender discrimination as well as prejudice based on their accent, ethnicity, or place of birth. (2)

   Many of these women have been living in the United States for several years and are now the victims of immigration profiling. Many detained women have been secured in raids in the workplace, picked up in their homes, or neighborhoods. Sadly, many of these women have families, small children, are pregnant, or even seriously ill. (3) Many of these detained women are leaving lives of violence, torture, rape, or discrimination, and may have significant medical and mental health issues. There are numerous stories of women who have suffered at the hands of a broken system in these immigration detention centers. Furthermore, cultural and language barriers result in the denial of access to outside social services and make it harder for these confined women to acquire the medical and mental health care that they need. Rarely do these women have a criminal record. (4)

   There is hardly ever any mention of immigration detention centers in the media or print. The reason could simply be because this is a multi-billion dollar industry. The only people benefiting are private prison corporations and state and county governments. Because they contract out bed space, the government is able to save money, or so they say. Consequently, while the government is saving money there have been reports of poor detention conditions and abuse among detainees, that imply the facilities are cutting corners at the expense of the immigrants’ well-being. (5)

Documented cases of neglect in Immigration Detention Centers.

"I was supposed to be checked [with a Pap smear] every six months. I asked my daughter to send the records. I got it and I brought it to medical so they could see I'm not lying. I have asked a lot of times. ... It's terrible because you feel like you have something you can die for ... and you don't have no assistance.
 - Lucia C., New Jersey, May 2008. Lucia C. did not receive a Pap smear in over 16 
 months in detention. (6)

 "Immediately, my body started shaking. I felt so cold that I thought I was freezing to death, but at the same time I was sweating. ... Within minutes, I had a seizure and my body began to shake so violently that I fell off the bed onto the floor." 
 - Zena T. Asfaw, on her near-death experience after being forced to take the wrong
 medication at a California detention facility (6)


“A woman being held at the Central Arizona Detention Center in Florence who experienced excruciating abdominal pain for months after she had been forced to undergo female genital mutilation in West Africa was told by the center’s staff to “exercise and watch her diet,” her lawyer at the time, Raha Jorjani, said. After nearly six months, the woman, who had been convicted of a nonviolent crime, was taken to a hospital where an ultrasound revealed a cyst the size of a five-month-old fetus. Immigration officials then suddenly released the woman with no money or health insurance to treat the cyst.” (7)


“Rosa Isela Contreras-Dominguez and Victoria Arrellano died in Federal custody awaiting deportation to Mexico; Contreras-Dominguez was 38 and pregnant at the time of her death, and Arrellano who had AIDS, deteriorated steadily in a San Pedro, California prison, eventually dying there at the age of 23.1 In another tragic loss, Jiang Zhen Xing, pregnant with twins miscarried when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials tried to forcibly deport her.” (8)

Two documented cases of abuse:

“Robert Luis Loya, 43, pleaded guilty to three counts of depriving the detained women of their civil rights and three counts of abusive sexual contact for attacking three women in the spring of 2008 at the Port Isabel Detention Center operated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE uses the facility to hold immigrants without documentation.” (9)



“In September 2003, a 21-year-old Turkish female detainee was raped by an ICE agent in an Arkansas motel. The agent, who was supposed to have taken the detainee to the doctor, was subsequently arrested and charged with felony sexual assault.” (10)

Immigration Detention Reform

There are many more cases that have never been investigated. Today, there are numerous groups advocating for immigration detention reform. Below are several recommendations for policy changes.

• Stop detaining women who are suffering the effects of persecution or abuse, or who are pregnant or nursing infants; (11)
• Adopt specific standards addressing women's health services, including reproductive health services; (11) and
• Prohibit the shackling of pregnant women (11)
• Comprehensive immigration reform must include legal and safe immigration options for undocumented women, ; (8)
• and a path to citizenship that allows immigrant women to obtain work permits, travel internationally, and access higher education and Federal financial aid. (8)
• Reproductive health care coverage that is financed through public funds must be provided to all immigrant women regardless of their legal or economic status. (8)
• Equitable access must be guaranteed to confidential and non-coercive family planning services; and to linguistically, culturally competent, and medically accurate reproductive health care services. (8)
• Funding must be provided to research specific data on the reproductive health disparities, needs, and services for immigrant women, as well as for outreach to engage immigrant women and their children in care. (8)
• Federal policy should impose a moratorium on immigration raids, and ensure better access to medical and legal services for immigrant women held in detention centers.(8)

Race, Gender, and Class

The distressing reality of the incarceration of immigrant women is they are typically victims of racial, gender, and class profiling. These women do not appear to be “white” or congregate in “white” areas. Instead, these women are taken into custody based on a petty crime, if even a crime has been committed, then asked for their identification. If they cannot produce what looks like a legitimate document then they are immediately detained. Furthermore, if they are in a known area of illegal immigrants, then they are at risk of random raids. In addition, they can be stopped on the street in their own yard or neighborhood, if law enforcement sees an opportunity. Many of these women leave their home countries in search of a better life for themselves and families. Sadly, for some women they leave one abuse for another because of how our country sees them as individuals.

Sources


 The information I have presented comes from theses sources. If you would like any further information please visit any of these websites. There are many ways we can come together to help bring awareness to the problems with women in immigration detention centers.

(1)http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/about detention

(2)http://www.now.org/issues/diverse/immigration.html

(3)http://www.nowfoundation.org/news/fall-2008/immigration.html

(4)http://www.immigrantwomennetwork.org
(5)http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/node/2381
(6)http://us.oneworld.net/article/361130-us-immigration-detention-centers-neglect-
    health
 (7)http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/us/21immig.html?_r=2
 (8)http://nwhn.org/immigrant-womens-health-casualty-immigration-policy-war
 (9)http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/women-102886-three-loya.html
(10)http://www.justdetention.org/pdf/NoRefugeHere.PDF
 (11)http://us.oneworld.net/article/361130-us-immigration-detention-centers-neglect- health

The information above was compiled by: Francine Goms