Concentration Camps

Remember, on top of all the grift, war, climate crisis, election insecurity, lies, and still-unreleased Epstein files, we are now full of concentration camps, "places in which groups of people are detained and confined against their will, under harsh conditions and in violation of their human and legal rights."

For the most part, detainees have not broken any laws. As the American Immigration Lawyers Associaiton explains, "Immigration detention is civil. In other words, it is not supposed to be a punishment. While some individuals enter immigration detention because of an encounter with the criminal justice system, their detention is for civil immigration purposes." In the last year, Congress has given DHS nearly $250 billion for immigration enforcement

2600 Magazine compiled a list of U.S. concentration camps and you can find an interactive map at https://concentrationcamps.us/

In a recent online conversation with journalist Tim Dickinson, Juan Proaño, CEO of LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) talked about the centers, the deaths,the inhumane conditions, the money, and the fight to close the facilities.

• The  Dilley "Family Detention Center" in Texas, run by a private company, receives 180 MILLION taxpayer dollars per year, more than $720 million over the life of the contract
• There are currently 70,000 people--from babies to seniors with disabilities-- in U.S. detention centers
• The number of deaths in detention centers has increased more than 400% in the last 15 months from a corollary period of four years ago. The number of deaths is likely an undercount; ICE uses various tactics to move detainees to other facilities to avoid including them in the counts.

Children are expected to represent themselves in immigration court (a practice that started during the Biden administration). Read "Judge to baby: File an Asylum Application."

The Trump regime has appointed hundreds of unqualified immigration judges

They are still sending detainees to "third countries" where they have no connections or resources

ICE is planning to equip its employees with electric shock gloves (which, unbelievably, are already being used in schools).

What can we do?

• Check out the Detention Watch Network
• Listen in on Indivisible's Immigration Justice Call on August 20 at 7 p.m. 
• Get involved with Voces de la Frontera's No 287g campaign to stop local law enforcement officers from aiding ICE agents. 
• Join the National Immigration Law Center call to take back the $240 billion Congress approved for mass deportations.
• Sign the ACLU's message demanding that Congress stop ICE killings. 
• Read about De-ICE Citizens Bank, and be inspired by a grassroots group that successfully convinced a detention center-funder to end its relationship with the facility
• Find a list of other corporations supporting ICE in 2026.

Other suggestions? Send them in. 

 

Don't forget. Don't let this be the new normal.