Government Security News August Digital Edition

Border Security/Immigration
ment should be using the resources
they are wasting in court to provide
basic human necessities to those in
its custody.”
“Migrants detained in the Tucson
sector have long suffered horrific
conditions,” said Dan Pochoda,
senior counsel for the ACLU of
Arizona. “It is unconscionable that
the federal government continues
to detain people including infants
in this manner. The Border Patrol
continues to operate in violation of
U.S. and international law as well
as its own standards without being
held accountable for these egregious
abuses.”
“These photos show the harm
people suffer in these facilities, from
having to sleep on the floor for days
to needing to huddle together just to
stay warm,” said Travis Silva, attorney
with the Lawyers’ Committee
for Civil Rights of the San Francisco
Bay Area. “These conditions should
not exist in a facility operated by the
United States government.”
“The images unsealed by the court
leave no room to debate the fact
that thousands of immigrants are
subjected to inhumane and unconstitutional
conditions by the Border
Patrol,” said Nora Preciado, staff attorney
with the National Immigration
Law Center. “We urgently need
meaningful and lasting reforms that
put an end to these abuses, hold the
agency accountable, and ensure that
people are treated with dignity.”
“Mothers should not be forced to
change their babies’ diapers on cold
concrete floors or warm them with
flimsy aluminum sheets. Border
Patrol’s treatment of men, women
and children in its custody is simply
inexcusable,” said Mary Kenney,
senior staff attorney for the American
Immigration Council. “We are
seeking immediate relief from the
deplorable detention conditions in
CBP holding facilities for the thousands
of individuals who are or will
be held there while this case progresses.”
In December, attorneys representing
the Plaintiff class of detained
immigrants sought a preliminary
injunction to stop Border Patrol’s
unconstitutional detention practices
while the case is being litigated. The
injunction is based on compelling
evidence of inhumane conditions
in Tucson facilities—much of which
was disclosed after the Court sanctioned
Border Patrol for destroying
video recordings from these facilities
and failing to turn over other
relevant documentation.
Jane Doe, et al. v. Johnson, et al.
was filed in the U.S. District Court
for the District of Arizona. Attorneys
on the case include Harold J.
34
McElhinny, Colette Reiner Mayer,
Louise C. Stoupe, Kevin M. Coles,
Pieter S. de Ganon, and Elizabeth
Balassone of Morrison & Foerster
LLP; Nora Preciado, Linton Joaquin,
and Karen C. Tumlin of the
National Immigration Law Center;
Mary Kenney, and Melissa Crow of
the American Immigration Council;
Travis Silva of the Lawyers’
Committee for Civil Rights of the
San Francisco Bay Area; and Kathy
Brody, Brenda Muñoz Furnish, and
Dan Pochoda of ACLU of Arizona.
For additional links see:
• Challenging Unconstitutions
Conditions in CBP Short Term
Detention Facilities (Litigation
Page)
• Photo Exhibits of CBP Short-
Term Detention Conditions
• Declaration by Joe Goldenson,
M.D., Medical Conditions Expert
• Declaration by Eldon Vail,
Prison Conditions Expert
• Declaration by Robert W. Powitz,
Sanitation Expert
• Detained Beyond the Limit:
Prolonged Confinement by U.S.
Customs and Border Protection
along the Southwest Border (Special
Report, August 2016)