Immigration Detention & Removal -Statistics
GUYANA - Many individuals who are detained in immigration detention facilities do not know their rights and are often misinformed by immigration officers and facility workers. Whether you are a US citizen, permanent resident or undocumented immigrant, you have the right to be treated with humanity, respect and dignity while in detention. Detainees do not forgo their human rights while in detention.
Immigration detention in the United States has reached crisis proportions. Over the last 15 years, the detention system more than quintupled in size, growing from less than 6,300 beds in 1996 to the current capacity of 33,400 beds.
In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) held 363,000 immigrants in detention in over 250 facilities across the country. Among those locked up for months or years are survivors of torture, asylum seekers, victims of trafficking, families with small children, the elderly, individuals with serious medical and mental health conditions, and lawful permanent residents with longstanding family and community ties who are facing deportation because of old or minor crimes.
Scores of immigrants are detained without basic due process. Immigration detainees have no right to a lawyer, and an estimated 84% of detainees do not have attorneys. Nor are immigration detainees guaranteed a prompt bond hearing to determine whether their detention is even justified in the first place. In some cases, immigrants convicted of minor crimes are subjected to mandatory detention during their immigration cases and categorically denied bond. The sad result is that thousands of immigrants are needlessly incarcerated, often for months or even years, without ever getting a day in court to determine whether they should even be detained in the first place.
Although an immigrant has no right to an attorney, an immigrant can be represented by an attorney but will have to pay legal fees. There are many non-profit organizations that will represent immigrants in detention on a pro-bono (free) basis. (Kaieteurnews.com)