Immigrant Detention in the United States by Sarah Thompson

saraht47 — 2025-10-07 16:06:08 UTC

The United States infamously have one of the largest immigration policies in the world. They are known for holding immigrants in jails or private centres to enforce immigration laws. The president, Donald Trump, has had extreme opinions on immigration since his original campaign in 2016. Some comments from Trump have become derogatory or promote stereotypes and violence towards immigrants by using language like "Not human" or "dangerous" when asked to describe immigrants. “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they’re telling us what we’re getting,” he said, setting the tone for his MAGA movement." (Terkel and Lebowitz). In March of 2025 Trump was reelected and began creating strict immigration laws and ordering all illegal or suspected illegal immigrants to be detained with no further reason needed.

saraht47 — 2025-10-07 16:08:00 UTC

saraht47 — 2025-10-07 16:15:55 UTC

There are endless questions and debates about how many human rights violations are taking place in immigrant Detention centres. Because many people who have been detained are still currently detained, the only way to see violations is from the outside. "Ossoff’s office has “identified 510 credible reports of human rights abuse” against people in immigration custody. Of these cases, 41 include allegations of physical or sexual abuse, as well as 18 alleged reports of mistreatment of children in custody, both U.S. citizens and noncitizens, and 14 alleged reports of mistreatment of pregnant women." Below are some of the direct violations to the Universal declaration of human rights.

saraht47 — 2025-10-07 16:20:00 UTC

Article 9- No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. Many immigrants are detained without a fair reason and are indefinitely held.

saraht47 — 2025-10-07 16:22:14 UTC

Article 5- "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Many immigrants held in detaintion claim the enviornment and treatment was unsafe, unsanitary, and degrading, with lack of access to medical care. One victim of unfair treatment in detention said, "While immigration detainees are not serving criminal sentences, they are often treated like people incarcerated for criminal offences: handcuffed, shackled, searched, subjected to solitary confinement, and restricted to small spaces with rigid routines and under constant surveillance, with severely limited access to the outside world. In provincial jails, many immigration detainees are confined in tense and even dangerous environments where they may be subjected to violence." (“‘I Didn’t Feel like a Human in There’”).

saraht47 — 2025-10-07 16:29:23 UTC

Article 11- Everyone charged with a crime is considered innocent until they are proven guilty. The accused has the right to a public trial where they have all the necessary guarantees for their defense. many immigrants are not given due process with their detaintion and are often not given fair hearings or presumed innocence. "In 2013, 83 percent of people deported from the United States were not given a hearing before a judge." (Immigrants’ Rights | American Civil Liberties Union, 2025)

saraht47 — 2025-10-08 15:51:17 UTC

The ACLU is a nonprofit organization that uses legal action and other social justice measures to create equality and fair treatment in the United States. For immigrants, the ACLU provides legal advice and support and works to preserve immigrant rights during the detainment and deportation process. They have many campaigns and ways to advocate for immigrants, one of which being their Border Humanity Project, "People fleeing persecution and violence have the legal and human right to seek asylum in the United States. Our nation is made stronger when we welcome people with compassion and dignity. Together, we can end the horrors of immigration detention and rebuild a better asylum system." (Border Humanity Project | American Civil Liberties Union, 2025)

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saraht47 — 2025-10-08 15:55:12 UTC

An example of conditions in an immigrant Detention centres.

saraht47 — 2025-10-08 16:00:09 UTC

I think the main need to remedies is the cruel and unsafe treatment immigrants are facing. In order to have a country that is safe for all people, immigrants rights and how they are being treated need to be considered. I think that there need to be stricter rules on the sanitization, cleanliness, space and capacity, access to medical care and overal living conditions people are facing in detention centres. If there are stricter rules and people designated to enforce them and be sure they are being followed, immigrants safety will become the priority it should be. I also think there needs to be more access to legal aid. Many immigrants, legal or not, may not have the ability to understand English or have the finances to properly advocate for themselves. If there are free and language accessable legal aid opportunities for people in detention, I think we will see a big difference in the amount of people being unnessisarily detained.

saraht47 — 2025-10-08 16:02:57 UTC

Works Cited

““I Didn’t Feel like a Human in There.”” Human Rights Watch, 17 June 2021, www.hrw.org/report/2021/06/17/i-didnt-feel-human-there/immigration-detention-canada-and-its-impact-mental#:~:text=While%20immigration%20detainees%20are%20not,may%20be%20subjected%20to%20violence. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

Acevedo, Nicole. “Hundreds of Alleged Human Rights Abuses in Immigrant Detention, Report Finds.” NBC News, 5 Aug. 2025, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/immigration-detention-human-rights-abuses-report-rcna222499. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

“Border Humanity Project | American Civil Liberties Union.” American Civil Liberties Union, 8 Jan. 2025, www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights/border-humanity-project. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

“Immigrants’ Rights | American Civil Liberties Union.” American Civil Liberties Union, 17 June 2025, www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

Terkel, Amanda, and Megan Lebowitz. “Trump Has Long Used Degrading Language toward Immigrants.” NBC News, 19 Sept. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-degrading-language-immigrants-rcna171120. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

““We Have No Rights”: Arbitrary Imprisonment and Cruel Treatment of Migrants with Mental Health Issues in Canada | International Human Rights Program.” Utoronto.ca, 2017, ihrp.law.utoronto.ca/We_Have_No_Rights#:~:text=Canada%20Border%20Services%20Agency’s%20imprisonment,laws%2C%20regulations%2C%20or%20policies. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

saraht47 — 2025-10-08 16:15:22 UTC

The topic of Immigrant detention caught my eye immediately. Specifically in the United States, I have seen various news articles and social media posts about the treatment immigrants are enduring while they are being detained. I was familiar with the issue of Donald Trump using negative language towards immigrants, perpetuating ideas of violence and stereotypes. I however, did not understand what currently has gone on to lead the country to where it is today, with many immigrants, illegal or not, facing various forms of discrimination and human rights violations. I wanted to educate myself and understand this problem deeper because while I had a vague idea from social media, I had no idea root cause of the problem or the true consiquenses.

I think this topic is important because through my research, I learned that the mistreatment of immigrants is not being represented in the media to the full extent of its negative impacts. I learned that multiple human rights violations were being made to people of all sexes and ages, including children. I think this topic is important to learn about because while the United States has a more crucial and severe problem, Canada also has a history of treating immigrants poorly. I think it is important to be educated on the topic so we can better understand how they got to that point and how we as a country can help them, while avoiding it happening within our country. I also think that because its human rights being infringed upon, the infringement could continue into other countries or groups of people.