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Undocumented immigrants from El Salvador wait to be deported on an ICE deportation flight last year in Arizona.
Immigration enforcement in the United States is plagued by inhumane treatment of detainees, inadequate legal representation and the increasing use of detention as a necessity rather than an alternative, an international human rights group said in a report released Thursday.
The 155-page report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is the most comprehensive review by an international organization of American immigration policy since the Department of Homeland Security took over enforcement responsibilities from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service in 2002, leading to the creation of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement."The IACHR is convinced that detention is a disproportionate measure in many if not most cases, and that programs that provide for alternatives to detention would be a more balanced means to serve the State's legitimate interest in ensuring compliance with immigration laws," the report says.
In cases where detention is necessary, the commission found a lack of conditions "commensurate with human dignity and humane treatment." The report also noted that detainees face obstacles to due process, mainly the right to an attorney, especially in cases involving unaccompanied children, immigrants with mental disabilities and others unable to represent themselves.
The report, which focuses on ICE's civil immigrations operations, also criticizes the multiple partnerships between local and state entities to enforce civil immigration laws.
"The Inter-American Commission finds that the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement has failed to develop an oversight and accountability system to ensure that these local partners do not enforce immigration law in a discriminatory manner by resorting to racial profiling, and that their practices do not use the supposed investigation of crimes as a pretext to prosecute and detain undocumented migrants."
The commission, a division of the Organization of American States, based its conclusions on evidence gathered from six immigration detention centers in Arizona and Texas and interviews with detainees and their families, immigration experts and attorneys that began in 2008.
The Washington-based nonprofit group submitted a draft of the report to the Obama administration in August 2010. In response, the federal government noted that it had already undertaken its own review of immigration enforcement and detention, leading to reforms in areas such as federal oversight of detention centers and expanded medical and mental health services.
The government also defended its approach toward detention and deportation.
"Immigration detention can be an important tool employed by States in exercising their sovereignty, as they ensure public safety and remove as expeditiously as possible individuals who may pose a threat to the security of the country or the safety of its citizens and lawful residents," the government said in its response.
"In this regard, we must note at the outset that contrary to the Commission’s assertions, neither the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man nor international law generally establish a presumption of liberty for undocumented migrants who are present in a country in violation of that country’s immigration laws."
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