FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@freedomforimmigrants.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Leaders in immigration detention and communities across the U.S. are launching a national campaign to reinstate visitation after Sunday, March 13, 2022, marked the two year anniversary of the suspension of visits.
The Biden administration has yet to reverse the isolating policy, one of the first measures taken by the Trump administration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the easing of other restrictions nationwide. Advocates say that visitation can be safely reinstated following the guidance of the CDC and other public health precautions, just as it has been in jails and prisons across the country since October of 2020.
Visitation is the primary form of communication immigrants in detention have with their families, communities and loved ones. By denying visits to people in detention—a policy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has described as “temporary”—ICE is failing to abide by the agency’s own standards outlined in the Performance-Based National Detention Standards and exacerbating the already dehumanizing and isolating experience of immigration detention.
“I’ve been in detention for eight months and have not been able to see my loved ones during this time,” said Serafín Andrade, who is detained at Golden State Annex in McFarland, California. “Holidays have come and gone, no hugs and kisses, or birthday wishes. There has been irreparable damage done not only to me but also to others in detention, who for example, have family members that are very sick or have passed away. In here we are overwhelmed with worries, stress and the fear of deportation. All we want is 60 minutes to visit with a loved one.”
“Visitation provides a vital means of connection and support for people inside and their families and communities outside,” said Layla Razavi, interim co-executive director at Freedom for Immigrants. “By maintaining the last administration’s policy of blocking visitation, the Biden administration is furthering the isolation of immigrants in detention and hindering their ability to advocate for themselves. The relationships that are maintained and created through visitation are essential to the well-being of immigrants as they continue their calls to end detention and fight for their release.”
Communities are renewing their call to reinstate visitation after a letter sent to the Biden administration last year went unanswered. In the letter, dozens of community-based visitation groups outlined updated CDC guidance that would allow for the reinstatement of visitation in accordance with public health guidelines. In the coming weeks, volunteers across the country will join people in detention in writing letters to be sent to the Biden administration to demand that visitation be restored immediately.
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Learn more about the campaign to reinstate visitation here and the FFI National Visitation Network here.
The campaign to reinstate visitation is supported by the following groups:
Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Northwest (Washington)
Casa de Paz (Colorado)
Casa Mariposa Detention Visitation Program (Arizona)
California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (California)
Cornell Anti-Detention Alliance (New York)
Desert Support for Asylum Seekers (California)
El Refugio (Georgia)
Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project (Arizona)
Freedom for Immigrants (Nationwide)
Immigrant Action Alliance (Florida)
Innovation Law Lab (Nationwide)
Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants (Illinois)
Iowans for Immigrant Freedom (Iowa)
Justice for Migrant Families (New York)
Kern Welcoming and Extending Solidarity to Immigrants (California)
Laredo Immigrant Alliance (Texas)
Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention (Louisiana)
Pangea Legal Services (California)
Rainbow Beginnings (California)
Transcend Arizona (Arizona)
Voces Unidas (Texas)
Volunteers for Immigrants in Detention - Albuquerque (New Mexico)