Policy Advocacy
Freedom for Immigrants has passed state laws, changed federal policies, and introduced historic legislation. We use a wide range of advocacy tools, including inside-outside organizing, coalition building, policy advocacy, and litigation to fight for a country without immigration detention.
Current policy goals
Immigration detention is a product of racism and a legacy of slavery, and it is the fastest growing prison population segment in the United States. California has led the nation in detention abolition efforts, but far too many people remain caged with a disproportionate number of poor people of color impacted.
Freedom for Immigrants policy objectives fall within two main areas of focus:
Halting Detention Expansion & Divesting from Detention
Investing in Community-based Solutions
statewide wins
Dignity Not Detention Act (CA, 2017): Freedom for Immigrants drafted and co-sponsored the Dignity Not Detention Act (SB 29). This law effectively freezes the growth of for-profit immigrant prisons in the state of California.
The bill also prohibits cities and counties from entering into new, or modifying existing, contracts with private prison companies with the purpose of expanding immigration detention.
And it makes California the first state in the country to require private immigrant prisons and jails to comply with open record laws.
Your state can be next! Check out our Guide to Dignity Not Detention in Your State. Freedom for Immigrants provides technical support and consultation to organizations and legislators seeking to implement similar legislation. Here is a list of states that have introduced legislation to curb immigration detention.
Attorney General Oversight (CA, 2017): Freedom for Immigrants (formerly CIVIC) and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center consulted on and heavily advocated for an amendment in California’s budget (AB 103).
Gov. Jerry Brown signed this budget action into law in June 2017, and California became the first state in the country to put a moratorium on all new contracts between California municipalities and ICE for immigration detention expansion for the next 10 years.
The budget action also gave the state Attorney General the power and resources to monitor all public and private immigration detention facilities in California.
Right to In-Person Visitation (CA, 2017): Since 2014, Freedom for Immigrants has advocated for and co-sponsored legislation to ensure that county jails cannot move toward video-only visitation. We ultimately won with AB 103, which prohibits local immigrant jails that provide in-person visitation as of January 1, 2018 from converting to video-only visitation. The bill also prohibits local immigrant jails from charging for visitation when visitors are onsite.
Banning For-Profit Prisons (CA, 2019): Building off of the Dignity Not Detention Act, Freedom for Immigrants was part of a coalition of immigrant rights and criminal justice advocates who passed AB 32 in California to phase out private prisons in both the criminal and civil context.
Federal policy wins & goals
Abolished Federal Detention Bed Quota: In 2013, Freedom for Immigrants launched the #EndtheQuota Campaign on Twitter with our award-winning video, “34,000 Sold,” catalyzing a renewed national effort by over 20 nonprofits to end the Congressional bed quota that required 34,000 people to be in immigration detention each day. Since 2009, congressional appropriations laws had tied funding to a minimum number of immigration detention “beds.”
The #EndTheQuota Campaign contributed to the introduction of the first-ever amendment (the Deutch-Foster Amendment) to eliminate the detention bed quota in the 2015 House Appropriations bill. Although the Amendment did not pass, in 2017 with support from legislators such as Senator Cory Booker, the bed quota language was removed during appropriations negotiations. However, local detention quotas still exist that require ICE to pay private prisons and local jails for a certain number of beds whether they are filled or not. This is one reason why Freedom for Immigrants believes a first step toward abolition is capping the number of people who can be detained through a detention moratorium.
Federal Moratorium on Detention Expansion: Building off of the momentum in California, Freedom for Immigrants wrote a federal budget amendment, introduced by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), to stop immigrant detention expansion nationwide.
The amendment was heard on the House floor in 2017 and 180 Democrats voted in favor with only 5 Democrats opposing! The Amendment passed the House of Representatives in 2019!
Detention Oversight Not Expansion (DONE) Act: Freedom for Immigrants drafted the Detention Oversight Not Expansion (DONE) Act, a bicameral bill first introduced in May 2018 and reintroduced in July 2019 by Sen. Kamala Harris (CA) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA) that would prohibit the expansion of immigration detention, improve oversight of these facilities, and fund community-based alternatives to detention. Learn more about our advocacy for the DONE Act.
Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act: Freedom for Immigrants endorsed this bill, first introduced in October 2017 in the House and reintroduced in 2019, which builds upon our achievements in California.
COVID-19 Relief Legislation: Freedom for Immigrants stood alongside partner organizations in calling on ICE to reduce its detention levels. Freedom for Immigrants utilized its biweekly monitoring reports on COVID-19 to help pass in the House of Representative the HEROES Act and advocate for other laws. Learn more here.
ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY ADVOCACY
Right to Reasonable Phone Call Rates: Freedom for Immigrants provided testimony and heavily advocated the Federal Communications Commission to create a rule to lower phone call rates from immigrant prisons and jail. In 2015, the FCC created a rate cap for all interstate phone calls. We continue to advocate for intrastate and international rate caps.
Right to Detention Inspection Tours: Freedom for Immigrants worked with allied organizations to urge ICE to create the Stakeholder Visitation Directive, which allows groups to request a tour of an immigrant prison or jail and conduct interviews with people who sign up.
recent Litigation wins
Safeguarding AB 32: Both GEO Group and the U.S. Department of Justice sued California. Freedom for Immigrants supported the California State Attorney General in defending this lawsuit with an amicus brief with pro bono counsel from Constantine Cannon. A federal court upheld the law as constitutional, particularly as applied to ICE.
Safeguarding AB 103: The U.S Department of Justice sued California. Freedom for Immigrants supported the California State Attorney General in defending this lawsuit with an amicus brief with pro bono counsel from Pillsbury. A federal court upheld the law as constitutional.
Enforcing SB 29: The City of McFarland violated SB 29 in approving permits for the largest expansion of immigration detention in California history. Freedom for Immigrants and the ILRC sued the City and GEO Group with pro bono counsel from Nossaman LLP. We won a preliminary injunction. This case is ongoing.
Protecting a Right to Visitation: Freedom for Immigrants convenes a national network of immigration detention visitation groups. Since 2013, the government has infringed on the First Amendment rights of these programs over a dozen times. Freedom for Immigrants has successfully fought for reinstatement of visitation rights in each of these instances. This time, we have had enough. Along with the Etowah Visitation Project, Freedom for Immigrants sued the Etowah County Sheriff’s Department in federal court with pro bono counsel from Reed Smith LLP. This case is ongoing.
Safeguarding the National Detention Hotline: After the popular Netflix show Orange Is The Black featured Freedom for Immigrants’ National Hotline throughout Season 7, the Trump administration shut down our hotline. Freedom for Immigrants sued ICE with pro bono counsel from Hueston Hennigan. We won a preliminary injunction, requiring the hotline to be restored nationwide. This case is ongoing.