Treatment of detainees at ICE Detention Centers

From UBC Wiki

Origin

As a nation with one of the world’s largest prison systems, the USA in the early 1980s ushered in its first detention centers to hold Cuban and Haitian refugees who had arrived on Floridian shores. Soon the country’s immigration policies began to take on tones of the incarceration system and in the 80s the Congress amended the Immigration and Naturalization Act to require the compulsory detention of all immigrants with certain criminal convictions. This was justified as a measure in the USA’s war on drugs.

Over the next two decades, the scope for the usage of detention centers widened further and in 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) was split into three separate organizations; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

During the Obama administration, the increase in detention bed quotas and the expansion of the deportation program, forced thousands of immigrants into the detention system. Under the Trump administration, the situation worsened, with agreements made with local law enforcement and the criminal justice system as well as community raids. They also eliminated policies that were meant to deprioritize detention and deportation from some immigrants that had been introduced by the previous administration.

After three decades of expansion, as per Detention Watch Network's statistics, the detention system now captures and holds as many as 500,000 immigrants each year.

Background

America’s status on immigration laws has always been fraught with complications. The immigration policies have been shaped and reshaped over the centuries from shifts in immigration costs and volumes of migrants.

Historical Relevance

From the 1600-1800s, immigration in America was of the indentured kind owing to the high cost of crossing the Atlantic. But the growing rise of dependence on immigrant finance coupled with technological advancements ushered in the Age of Mass Migration from Europe (1850-1920). But the end of this period was marked by the imposition of the Literacy Test in 1917 and stricter immigration quotas in 1921. [1]

American history has been tainted by discriminatory and often harmful actions against minority and racialized communities.

Japanese Internment Camps

During World War II, the American government under the Roosevelt administration, confined approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans by relocating and incarcerating them at internment camps in Western interiors of America in retaliation to Pearl Harbour. This was fuelled by rising paranoia among American media and public over the community’s loyalty to the country as well as racist prejudices that had for long manifested as exclusionary laws about property ownership and citizenship. To quote Lieutenant John L. DeWitt who was responsible for administering the internment camps,

Barracks from Japanese American Internment Camps

“I don't want any of them [persons of Japanese ancestry] here. They are a dangerous element. There is no way to determine their loyalty... It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen, he is still a Japanese. American citizenship does not necessarily determine loyalty... But we must worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the map.” [2]

The conditions in these camps were deplorable, with as many as 25 people being forced into quarters meant to house no more than 4 people. There was grave shortage of medical staff and the extreme climates of the interior locations of these camps meant extreme climates that were hard on children and the elderly populace. The WRA recorded 1,862 deaths across the ten camps, with cancer, heart disease, tuberculosis, and vascular disease accounting for the majority. [3]

Systemic Racism

Immigration policies in the United States of America have never been governed by the intent to protect Americans. It has always been driven by race and the need to reinforce white supremacy.

This is blatant from the fact that American immigration policies target immigrants of color from countries like South America, South Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. This political immunity is rooted in a system that criminalizes, commodifies and dehumanizes brown, black and indigenous bodies. By confining immigrants deemed ‘illegal’ in detention centres, they are reduced to sub-humans or aliens that need to be separated from the general populace.

Political Polarization and Inflammatory Views

While more recently, the relaxation of migration quotas has eased the immigration process, it has not been facilitated by the waves of paranoia and political polarization. A far-right opinion that claims high-skill immigrants from countries like India and China are stealing American jobs and that low-skill immigrants from countries like Mexico are dangerous and criminals has been perpetuated often enough for a lot of incensed Americans to protest the relaxation of immigration laws.

The 2016 US elections marked a political shift in dominant American ideology, with then Presidential candidate Donald Trump giving voice to a lot of frustration harboured by the right-leaning populace. During a rally in Phoenix in 2016, his take on immigration was divisive. In criticism of the Obama administration’s immigration approach, he said,

“President Obama and Hillary Clinton have engaged in gross dereliction of duty by surrendering the safety of the American people to open borders, and you know it better than anybody right here in Arizona. You know it.” Over the course of his presidency the situation has only worsened.

Timeline of laws and historical events for ICE

2003

Creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

The former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is dissolved and reformed into three branches: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Customs and Border Enforcement (CBP), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The immigration detention system now falls under the purview of ICE.

2005

“Operation Streamline” begins, allowing for the criminal prosecution of people apprehended at the border and to be held in privately-operated Criminal Alien Requirement (CAR) prisons and administered by the Bureau of Prisons.

2008

The Bush administration pilots the “Secure Communities” program, strengthening federal immigration and local law enforcement partnerships.

2009

Immigration Detention Bed Quota was passed by Congress, DHS must now maintain a minimum of 34,000 detention beds across the country on any given day. Obama administration temporarily ends practice of family detention, although the Berks Family Detention Center remains in operation.

2011

The Obama administration expands the “Secure Communities” program, which relies on federal and local law enforcement partnerships to carry out ICE’s detention priorities. Ecuador opens Hotel Hernon, followed by Hotel Carrión (opened in 2013). These are the first dedicated detention facilitiesin South and Central America, although Ecuador passed legislation in 1971 to allow for the detention of unauthorized migrants.

2012

The Obama administration established the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program,providing temporary work status and relief from deportation for those who arrived in the United States as minors and meet certain requirements. Israel opens the Holot Detention Center, the largest in the world to date, with capacity to hold up to 10,000 migrants.

2014

The Obama administration resumes practice of family detention in response to increase of unaccompanied minors, women and child migrants from Central America.

2016

August: The U.S. Justice Department and DHS announce they will phase out the use of private prisons; private prison industry stocks plummet.

November: Donald J. Trump is elected president; private prison industry stocks rise.

2017

January: At the end of President’ Obama’s term, detention numbers are at a record high of over 40,000 per day and the Obama administration has deported over 3 million people, more than all presidents since 1890 combined. President Trump signs Executive Order on immigration, promising to fortify and expand U.S. immigration enforcement capacities and the detention system.

October: The Dignity Not Detention Act passes in California, the first law of its kind to restrict the growth of for-profit immigration detention contracting on a statewide level. This law was drafted and co-sponsored by Freedom for Immigrants.

2018-2020

President Trump issues a travel ban that further prohibited issuing of visas to 7 majority Muslim populated countries which was expanded to 13 countries by 2020. The ban was revised twice upon stumbling on to legal challenges and the third version was upheld in the Supreme Court in June 2018. [4] [5]

Trump further made an attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival Program, but due to a legal injunction the policy was allowed to continue while the matter was a subject of legal change. He later imposed a zero tolerance policy. In his first State of the Union address on January 30, 2018, Trump outlined his administration's four pillars for immigration reform: (1) a path to citizenship for DREAMers; (2) increased border security funding; (3) ending the diversity visa lottery; and (4) restrictions on family-based immigration. The 4 four slogans also tried to promote Trump’s slogan “Buy American, Hire American”. [6]

Recent Events That Brought This Issue Into Focus

Trump and His Wall

The concept of the Wall was the centerpiece of Trump’s 2016 election campaign. He capitalized on underlying tones of racism that run rampant in America to create an environment conducive to divisive, extreme right interests.

In his speeches he often talked to the wall that would keep out the ‘illegal immigrant’ and portrayed them as drug dealers, rapists and criminals. His media allies including Fox News amplified this sentiment of fear-mongering. The idea of the wall was only the tip of the exclusionary, racist iceberg. It feeds into the white supremacy narrative and according to The New York Times story, “Trump’s wall is the embodiment of a longstanding illusion of American permanence and superiority.”

But Trump’s stance on the Wall has also evolved over the course of his presidency as have his policies on immigration, especially in face of international outcry at the treatment of detainees at ICE detention centres. But as we’ll soon read, the last four years have been fraught with horror stories from detention centers, whether it’s immigrants being separated from their families, being picked up by ICE officers with no prior warning, the terrifying spread of Covid-19 in the detention centres or forced hysterectomies being performed on female detainees.

Mass Exodus of South American Asylum Seekers

For many immigrants from Central America, especially countries like Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, the American dream is the only hope of a bright future. A number of them blame persecution by drug cartels and bleak work opportunities as their reason for undertaking the arduous trek of approximately 4000 kilometres to the Mexico-America border. [7]

But in November 2018, when a caravan of Central American refugees embarked on a long, tiresome journey to the American border, they were met with swirling rumours and a merciless Trump administration. According to a BBC report, he said many of the migrants were criminals, called the caravan an invasion, and ordered troops to the border. He also repeatedly suggested it was politically motivated.

He also went so far as to try and move for immigration policy changes that would negatively impact asylum seekers, which was promptly blocked by US District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco. This demonization and alienation of asylum seekers served to perpetuate false news about the prevalent immigration policies. This type of news framing further serves to influence public opinion and normalises and trivializes the treatment of immigrants detailed at ICE’s detention centers.

Protests

Abolish ICE

A poster at an Abolish ICE protest

The Abolish ICE movement began in 2017 with the initial signs of the Trump administration’s harsher immigration policy. At the time, the Intercept published a report on the ICE’s treatment of the undocumented children who were separated from their parents. This report revealed rampant physical, verbal and mental abuse of these children.

The #AbolishICE hashtag was created by researcher and activist Sean McElwee in February 2017. However, the movement gained steam on the release of this report and the rise in the circulating images and news of children kept in cages in the detention facility with just a thin sheet of foil to cover them. Protesters began holding peaceful demonstrations outside government offices in New York and Washington to magnify the voices of the victims.

The movement was further strengthened on June 17, 2018 with the launch of Occupy ICE.

Occupy ICE

The first Occupy ICE protest – which took inspiration from the Occupy Wall Street movement – took place outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Portland, Oregon, soon after the Trump Administration announced its ‘zero tolerance immigration policy’. The increasing reports of thousands of children being separated from their parents as a result of this policy left communities across America aghast, bringing them out in support of the ICE victims.

The first Occupy ICE protest began as a 24-hour-vigil outside the Portland ICE in support of the affected immigrant families. This vigil held by a small group of people snowballed into a massive movement soon after. Within a few weeks, the camp grew to hold over 100 tents of protestors. While most of these protesters survived of simple food like eggs and pancakes made within the camp or food and water donated by the local families, a few others only consumed Gatorade as part of a hunger strike against the ICE.

The sudden pressure on the ICE, Portland, forced officials to shut down the building for a week that month. However, the building was reopened later on June 23, 2018, by the federal law enforcement. During this process, the officers – in full riot gear – began sweeping the tent city. 8 protestors were arrested on June 23, 2018 for misdemeanor and obstructing a peace officer.

By this time, the news about the movement had spread nationally. Taking inspiration from Oregon’s Occupy ICE initiative, similar protests began mushrooming outside the ICE office buildings in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Louisville, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Detroit, among others.

Recent Protests (2020)

A unique slogan at an Occupy ICE Protest

In September 2020, Dawn Wooten, a former nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center in rural Georgia filed a complaint about the numerous gynaecological procedures including hysterectomies being conducted on immigrant women in the facility, without their consent.

This complaint, which was highlighted by the Intercept, has strengthened the Abolish ICE and Occupy ICE movements as hundreds of protestors flocked outside the ICE offices and government buildings to voice their dissention once again, while many others have joined the protests online.

In an attempt to control these gatherings, the law enforcement officials in some cities began using harsher tactics to thin the crowd. In one such instance in New York, on September 20, 2020, hundreds of protesters had gathered for peaceful demonstrations in Times Square and near the NYPD headquarters. As many as 86 of these people were arrested for ‘obstructing vehicular traffic’.

Recent Causes for alarm at ICE Detention Centers

Negligent Medical Practices During The Pandemic (Covid-19)

February 2020:

25th February: Dr. Allen & Dr. Rich, detention medical experts and consultants to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), warn the agency of public health risks of ICE detention facilities.

March 2020:

13th March: Dr.Allen & Dr.Rich again express concerns to DHS about ICE detention / Open letter from medical professionals to ICE urges releases to mitigate COVID-19 harms

15th March: The immigration judges union, ICE trial attorney union, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association call for the closure of immigration courts to prevent coronavirus spread

17th March: Human Rights First, Physicians for Human Rights, and Amnesty International USA write to DHS and ICE leadership urging release of asylum seekers and immigrants due to coronavirus threat

19th March: A Bergen County sheriff’s officer tests positive for COVID-19; statement says no ICE detainees were exposed / First employee at ICE facility tests positive for coronavirus (Elizabeth Detention Centre, Elizabeth, NJ)

20th March: DHS medical experts/whistle blowers write to Congress, White House Task Force, urge releases from ICE detention to prevent coronavirus spread / ICE officials concede during briefing to House Committee on Oversight that ICE has “no contingency plan for coronavirus treatment if local hospitals become overwhelmed and cannot treat detainees”

22th March: Inmates test positive for coronavirus at New Jersey jail also housing ICE detainees

22th March: Former Acting ICE Director Jon Sandweg writes recommending release of “thousands of nonviolent, low-risk detainees currently in ICE custody,” explaining that “ICE can reduce the overcrowding of its detention centers, and thus make them safer, while also putting fewer people at risk”

24th March: First ICE detainee tests positive for coronavirus (Bergen County Jail, Hackensack, NJ).

April 2020

3rd April: Medical and human rights experts continue to call for release of ICE detainees

10th April: Reports of guards at privately-owned Otay Mesa Detention Center denying masks to detainees if they refuse to sign a form absolving the company of liability should they become infected

17th April: “Acting [ICE] Director Albence state[s] that ‘[their] review… has been completed…’ ICE doesn’t plan to release any other detainees to slow the spread of coronavirus.” / Public health experts continue to call for releases from ICE detention

23rd April: Judge orders population reduction in ICE detainees at Adelanto, California facility

25th April: Guard at a private detention facility used to jail immigrants in Monroe, Louisiana dies after contracting COVID-19 (Richwood Correctional Facility, Monroe, LA)

28th April: Second guard at Richwood Correctional Facility dies after contracting COVID-19

30th April: Miami judge orders ICE to reduce population in three Florida detention centers to allow for social distancing (Krome Detention Center, Broward Transitional Center, Glades County Detention Center)

May 2020

6th May: First detainee died from coronavirus (Otay Mesa Detention Center, San Diego, CA)

13th May: Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf says “What we’re not going to do is release all of the detainees in our care.”

14th May: Elizabeth Detention Center guard reported to have died from COVID-19 / ICE transfers 16 detainees from Krome Detention Center to Broward Transitional Center, where they test positive for COVID-19 an hour later

15th May: Class action suit filed demanding release of all detainees at Elizabeth Detention Center due to unsafe conditions during the pandemic

26th May: ICE denies its transfer policy is contributing to spread of COVID-19

27th May: “ICE admits to transferring detainees with COVID-19, says it can’t test everybody”

28th May: Five percent one-day increase in positive cases in ICE detention

31st May: ICE transfers of detainees have led to outbreaks in detention centers in five states - Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas.

June 2020

1st June: 1,406 detainees have tested positive for COVID-19 out of 2,781 tested overall (50.6%); 44 ICE employees at detention centers positive for COVID-19, 123 other ICE employees test positive [8] [9] [10]

By August 2020, ICE’s mean daily detained population decreased 45% to 21 591 from the prepandemic February population of 39 319. On August 31, ICE reported 5379 cumulative COVID-19 cases and 6 related deaths among its detainees. Cases were reported in 92 of 135 facilities, with 20 facilities accounting for 71% of cases. [11]

Forced hysterectomies

Nurse Dawn Wooten filed a formal complaint against Dr. Mahendra Amin, a Georgia physician working at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center, who she claims performed mass hysterectomies on detained immigrant women without consent. While the country reacted in shock, the reality is that coerced sterilization against communities of color is not new. The United States has a shameful history of exploiting Black and brown women’s bodies as part of a larger objective for populations control rooted in white supremacy — and the medical field is partly to blame. [12]

At least 57 women in a Georgia ICE detention center say they were forced or pressured into having gynecological procedures, according to a group of immigration lawyers, doctors and previously detained women who met with senators. [13]

Media Coverage

The news organizations within the United States of America as well as the international media played an integral role in the dissemination of information on the treatment of the detainees in the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Centers. Their reports proved to be catalysts of change in the perception of people on the subject across the world, especially over the past four years.

The Intercept’s report on the mental, physical and emotional abuse faced by the immigrants detained in the US ICE centers, published in April 2017, was one of the biggest eye openers of the conditions these men, women and children encountered frequently. The growing focus of media reports on these detention centers resulted in a steep rise in those questioning the administration’s narrative wherein immigrants equaled ‘criminal aliens’ or ‘illegal aliens’.

Journalists dug deeper into the treatment of immigrant detainees at the ICEs and found shockingly subpar provisions of basic essentials like food and medical support.

In an article published on December 17, 2017, the Washington Post unveiled a report by the Department of Homeland Security which found that the detainees in most of the ICE detention centers were served spoiled and moldy food, and provided with inadequate medical attention. The report went on to say that this undermined the protection of the detainee’s rights and the provision of a safe environment.

CNN, in two back-to-back articles published on May 16, 2017 and May 17, 2017, exposed the deaths of immigrant detainees in the ICE centers. The first article spoke about Jean Jimenez-Joseph, a 28-year-old detainee at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, who committed suicide after spending two weeks in solitary confinement. The second article was about the death of an Indian national Atulkumar Patel (58), who suffered a heart failure at the ICE center in Atlanta, where he had been sent because of his incomplete immigration documents.

The reportage on the treatment of detainees in the ICE centers across the US further intensified after the Trump administration initiated the zero-tolerance immigration policy. Images and stories of children separated from their immigrant parents and kept in crowded cage-like structures at different detention centers circulated through media channels.

As protests began erupting across America, the focus of international media also zeroed in on the US ICE detainment centers.

Organizations like the BBC, the Guardian and even the Telegraph, etc, published several reports on the indefinite separation of children and their parents at the US border, the facilities the children were kept in, the unavailability of sufficient food, the risks to their lives, and so on.

Republican party biased Fox News tried to debunk the circulating news on the poor conditions of the ICE centers, with a news segment on an exclusive tour of California’s Adelanto ICE. The Telegraph also published an article on Donald Trump’s statement regarding the zero-tolerance immigration policy.

The Guardian’s report on the overcrowding at the Texas border patrol facility, supported by pictures of crowded rooms where immigrants did not have enough space to stand, and of children given foil to cover themselves, reflected the gravity of the situation.

News articles on the Occupy ICE protests, Abolish ICE and other such protests were seen across national and international media.

In 2020, the media narrowed down its focus to access the safety and healthcare provisions of the detainees in the ICE centers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interview with Iranian scientist Sirous Asgari, who was wrongfully and indefinitely detained at the ICE holding facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, the Guardian wrote about the lack of sanitizers, soaps, masks, laundry services and even social distancing guidelines in such facilities.

News reports on the medical neglect and hysterectomies conducted on unsuspecting immigrant women detainees has become the new topic of discussion since a complaint regarding it was filed at the Georgia ICE by a former nurse in September 2020.

Fox News, in response to these reports, published two articles stating that the DHS is investigating the forced hysterectomies of the ‘illegal immigrants’ and that Dr. Mahendra Amin, the gynaecologist accused for conducting these procedures, will no longer see the detainees at the ICE facility.

References

    1. ↑ (Abramitzky, Ran, and Leah Boustan. “Immigration in American Economic History.” Journal of economic literature vol. 55,4 (2017): 1311-1345. doi:10.1257/jel.20151189).
    2. ↑ (Fred Mullen, "DeWitt Attitude on Japs Upsets Plans," Watsonville Register-Pajaronian, April 16, 1943. p.1, reproduced by Santa Cruz Public Library. Retrieved September 11, 2006.)
    3. ↑ (Fiset, Louis. "Medical care in camp". Densho Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 3, 2014)
    4. ↑ https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/detention-timeline
    5. ↑ https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2772627
    6. ↑ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-wants-immigration-makes-america-stronger-safer/
    7. ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45951782
    8. ↑ https://www.thecut.com/2020/10/migrant-women-detail-medical-abuse-forced-hysterectomies.html
    9. ↑ https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/immigration-detention-and-covid-19-timeline-administration-fails-heed-warnings-worsens
    10. ↑ https://www.aila.org/infonet/ice-issues-guidance-on-covid-19
    11. ↑ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/how-ice-data-undercounts-covid-19-victims/
    12. ↑ https://theconversation.com/ice-detainees-alleged-hysterectomies-recall-a-long-history-of-forced-sterilizations-146820
    13. ↑ https://in-training.org/forced-hysterectomies-in-ice-detention-centers-a-continuation-of-our-countrys-sordid-history-of-reproduction-control-21179
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    32. Hing, J. (2018, July 11). What Does It Mean to Abolish ICE? Retrieved November 29, 2020, from www.thenation.com website: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/mean-abolish-ice/
    33. Homan, T. (2020, May 1). Tom Homan: Liberal judges use coronavirus as excuse to free detained illegal immigrants, endangering public. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from Fox News website: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tom-homan-liberal-judges-use-coronavirus-as-excuse-to-free-detained-illegal-immigrants-endangering-public
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    35. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=20742. (2018, April 11). 1,224 Complaints Reveal a Staggering Pattern of Sexual Abuse in Immigration Detention. Half of Those Accused Worked for ICE. Retrieved from The Intercept website: https://theintercept.com/2018/04/11/immigration-detention-sexual-abuse-ice-dhs/
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    37. Jones, C. (2020, September 20). Group outside Phoenix ICE office protests alleged unwanted hysterectomies for migrants. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from The Arizona Republic website: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-breaking/2020/09/20/protesters-phoenix-ice-office-call-end-alleged-sterilization/5847760002/
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    40. Levin, S. (2020a, March 27). “I won’t survive”: Iranian scientist in US detention says Ice will let Covid-19 kill many. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from the Guardian website: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/sirous-asgari-coronavirus-us-ice-immigration-detention
    41. Levin, S. (2020b, September 22). He fought wildfires while imprisoned. California reported him to Ice for deportation. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from the Guardian website: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/22/california-inmate-firefighter-ice-deportation
    42. Levinson-Waldman, R. (2018, July 30). The Abolish ICE Movement Explained. Retrieved from Brennan Center for Justice website: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/abolish-ice-movement-explained
    43. Lovera, P. S. (2020, May 1). “We had to make face masks from sanitary pads.” BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52476131
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    45. Moore, S. (2020, September 25). Analysis | ICE is accused of sterilizing detainees. That echoes the U.S.’s long history of forced sterilization. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/25/ice-is-accused-sterilizing-detainees-that-echoes-uss-long-history-forced-sterilization/
    46. Narea, N. (2020, September 15). The outcry over ICE and hysterectomies, explained. Retrieved from Vox website: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/9/15/21437805/whistleblower-hysterectomies-nurse-irwin-ice
    47. Nixon, R., & Qiu, L. (2018, July 3). What Is ICE and Why Do Critics Want to Abolish It? The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/us/politics/fact-check-ice-immigration-abolish.html
    48. Norman, G. (2020, September 23). ICE detainees will no longer be seen by doctor accused of performing hysterectomies without consent. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from Fox News website: https://www.foxnews.com/us/ice-doctor-hysterectomies-georgia-allegations
    49. “Occupy Ice”: activists blockade Portland building over family separations. (2018, June 21). Retrieved November 29, 2020, from the Guardian website: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/20/occupy-ice-portland-protest-immigration-family-separations
    50. Occupy ICE demonstrators plan weeklong protest. (2018, June 24). Retrieved November 29, 2020, from WXYZ website: https://www.wxyz.com/news/occupy-ice-protesters-plan-weeklong-demonstration-at-detroit-office
    51. Office of Inspector General, Homeland Secuity. (2017). Concerns About ICE Detainee Treatment and Care at Detention Facilities. Retrieved from https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2017-12/OIG-18-32-Dec17.pdf
    52. Olivares, J. O. W., WashingtonSeptember 15 2020, J., & P.m, 9:22. (2020, September 16). “He Just Empties You All Out”: Whistleblower Reports High Number of Hysterectomies at ICE Detention Facility. Retrieved from The Intercept website: https://theintercept.com/2020/09/15/hysterectomies-ice-irwin-whistleblower/
    53. Oregonian/OregonLive, E. C. | T. (2018, June 23). Portland’s Occupy ICE movement spreads to other cities. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from oregonlive website: https://www.oregonlive.com/news/erry-2018/06/5e18f1cf119098/with_one_week_down_in_portland.html
    54. Oregonian/OregonLive, L. G. | T. (2018, July 25). Occupy ICE PDX: a timeline of the Portland encampment. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from oregonlive website: https://www.oregonlive.com/news/erry-2018/07/62ee150670182/occupy-ice-pdx-a-timeline-of-t.html
    55. Paul, K. (2020, September 15). Ice detainees faced medical neglect and hysterectomies, whistleblower alleges. Retrieved from the Guardian website: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/14/ice-detainees-hysterectomies-medical-neglect-irwin-georgia
    56. Perlberg, S. (2018, July 28). How “Abolish ICE” Went From Twitter Slogan To Winning Over Progressives And Dividing Politics. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from BuzzFeed News website: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stevenperlberg/abolish-ice-sean-mcelwee
    57. Protesters Occupy Philadelphia ICE Office. (2018, July 2). Retrieved November 29, 2020, from UNICORN RIOT website: https://unicornriot.ninja/2018/protesters-occupy-philadelphia-ice-office/
    58. Rambaran, V. (2020, July 8). Coronavirus hits Arizona ICE detention center, hundreds of employees and migrants test positive: report. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from Fox News website: https://www.foxnews.com/us/coronavirus-arizona-ice-detention-center-migrants-employees
    59. Ravani, S. (2018, July 9). 39 Occupy ICE protesters in San Francisco arrested. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from SFGATE website: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Occupy-ICE-protesters-in-San-Francisco-report-13059692.php
    60. Reporters, T. (2018, July 18). Immigrant children describe hunger and cold in detention. The Telegraph. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/18/immigrant-children-describe-hunger-cold-detention/
    61. Reyes, O. by R. (2019, August 24). Trump’s chilling plan punishes children. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from CNN website: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/24/opinions/trump-immigration-detain-migrant-families-indefinitely-reyes/index.html
    62. Rojas, N. (2018, June 28). What is the Occupy ICE movement? Retrieved November 29, 2020, from Newsweek website: https://www.newsweek.com/what-occupy-ice-movement-federal-officers-clear-protesters-ice-facility-999817
    63. Ruiz-Grossman, S. (2018, July 5). ‘Occupy ICE’ Movement Spreads Across Cities Nationwide. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from HuffPost website: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/occupy-ice-protests-san-francisco-nationwide-trump-immigration_n_5b3e89b8e4b09e4a8b2b451a
    64. Sacchetti, M. (2017, December 17). Watchdog report finds moldy food, mistreatment in immigrant detention centers. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigration/watchdog-report-finds-moldy-food-mistreatment-in-immigrant-detention-centers/2017/12/15/c97b380a-e10d-11e7-89e8-edec16379010_story.html
    65. Singman, B. (2020, October 16). DOJ, DHS release “Alien Incarceration” report, say 94% of illegal aliens in custody were “unlawfully present.” Retrieved November 30, 2020, from Fox News website: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-dhs-release-alien-incarceration-report-say-94-of-illegal-aliens-in-custody-were-unlawfully-present
    66. Staff, O. F. (2020a, October 2). Melania Trump praises care at detention centres in secretly recorded tapes. The Telegraph. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/02/melania-trump-praises-care-detention-centres-secretly-recorded/
    67. Staff, O. F. (2020b, October 21). Parents of 545 migrant children separated under US border policy cannot be found. The Telegraph. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/21/parents-545-migrant-children-separated-us-border-policy-cannot/
    68. staff/jake-offenhartz. (2018, June 25). “Occupy ICE” Protesters Shut Down Manhattan Immigration Hearings. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from Gothamist website: https://gothamist.com/news/occupy-ice-protesters-shut-down-manhattan-immigration-hearings
    69. Stuart, T., & Stuart, T. (2020, September 18). What We Know About the Allegations of Forced Hysterectomies at an ICE Facility. Retrieved from Rolling Stone website: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/hysterectomies-ice-allegations-whistleblower-georgia-1062429/
    70. Taylor, M. (2018, June 26). These Protests Against ICE Are Actually Working. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from www.vice.com website: https://www.vice.com/en/article/xwmjzz/occupy-is-back-and-its-coming-for-ice
    71. Teichner, M. (2018, July 2). Immigration protesters clash with Atlanta Police, 1 arrested. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from FOX 5 Atlanta website: https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/immigration-protesters-clash-with-atlanta-police-1-arrested
    72. Trump migrant separation policy: Children “in cages” in Texas. (2018, June 18). BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44518942
    73. US nurse alleges “hysterectomies on migrant women.” (2020, September 15). BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54160638
    74. Wallace, D. (2020, September 17). DHS investigates forced sterilization, hysterectomy allegations of illegal immigrants. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from Fox News website: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ice-hysterectomy-sterilization-dhs-investigations
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