Immigrant Detention

The DREAM Act “was probably the last measure we are going to see (for awhile) that contained favorable pieces in support of the migrant community,” said Pedro Rios, San Diego director of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker human-rights organization. “It’s ironic that this is probably the most conservative version of the DREAM Act, and yet Congress could not make an effort to reconcile differences to move it forward.”

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AFSC staff quote:

We feel there are other methods that can be used, are effective and don't restrict a person's liberty for a civil immigration violation," said Amy Gottlieb of the American Friends Service Committee. "We much prefer that ICE employ community-based alternatives to detention."

The solution to illegal immigration resides in the enforcement of laws already in the books says Rep. Lamar Smith, one of legislators expected to set the immigration debate in the next Congress.

"Voters sent many pro-enforcement candidates to the House and Senate because they are tired of the failed immigration policies of the current administration," Smith said.

The American Friends Service Committee and Beau Hodai (author of the groundbreaking article from In These Times on private prisons & Arizona) met on the lawn of the state house in Phoenix on Monday to hold a press conference calling for an end to for-profit prison influence peddling in Arizona.

If the thought of an anti-immigrant, more radicalized GOP-controlled U.S. House wasn’t galling enough for immigration advocates, local immigrants’ rights groups are bracing for the equally grim prospect of a GOP controlled state government.

In Philly, others are also preparing for a looming fight. The city-based American Friends Service Committee is not only prepared for a more conservative Pennsylvania legislature, but state assemblies in 13 other states that flipped to GOP control.

Privately operated prisons are increasingly becoming the norm in Arizona. The state currently has eleven prisons operating under contract with for-profit corporations, but a recent escape by three inmates from the Kingman Prison Complex and the resulting murder of an elderly couple in New Mexico have raised questions about the role they play in Arizona.