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bigtree

(85,917 posts)
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 02:57 PM Aug 2015

O'Malley statement on US's detention of refugee moms, kids in advance of DHS response to court order

Gabriela Domenzain ?@GabiDomenzain 6h6 hours ago
@MartinOMalley's statement on US's continual detention of refugee moms, kids in advance of DHS announcement today.




from MSNBC:

When the federal government first began detaining immigrant women and children caught crossing into the U.S. illegally, it was supposed to be a long-term and humane solution to avert a humanitarian crisis at the border. But in the last year a series of miscalculations, along with opposition from advocates and federal court rulings, have chipped away at the policy.

The dynamic has left the Obama administration caught in a paradox: The federal government is on the hook for contracts to build and run new detention facilities designed specifically to house families, while it may soon be legally barred from being able to fill them.

The latest blow came from District Court Judge Dolly M. Gee, who in a 25-page order last week blasted the administration for rushing to build new facilities that didn't fully comply with long-established requirements for detaining young children. Noting that the testimony from women and children detained at the two new facilities contradicted the government's rosy portrayal of conditions there, Gee ordered that the roughly 1,700 families that aren't flight risks be released as soon as possible.

"It is astonishing that the defendants have enacted a policy requiring such expensive infrastructure without more evidence to show that it would be compliant with an agreement that has been in effect for nearly 20 years," Gee wrote.

read: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/failed-experiment-immigrant-family-detention-n403126



from NYT:

In a decision late Friday roundly rejecting the administration’s arguments for holding the families, Judge Dolly M. Gee of Federal District Court for the Central District of California found that two detention centers in Texas that the administration opened last summer fail to meet minimum legal requirements of the 1997 settlement for facilities housing children.

Judge Gee also found that migrant children had been held in “widespread deplorable conditions” in Border Patrol stations after they were first caught, and she said the authorities had “wholly failed” to provide the “safe and sanitary” conditions required for children even in temporary cells.

The opinion was a significant legal blow to detention policies ordered by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in response to an influx of children and parents, mostly from Central America, across the border in South Texas last summer. In her 25-page ruling, Judge Gee gave a withering critique of the administration’s positions, declaring them “unpersuasive” and “dubious” and saying officials had ignored “unambiguous” terms of the settlement.

The administration has struggled with a series of setbacks in the federal courts for its immigration policies, including decisions that halted President Obama’s programs to give protection from deportation and work permits to millions of undocumented immigrants.

“We are disappointed with the court’s decision and are reviewing it in consultation with the Department of Justice,” said Marsha Catron, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. She said officials would respond to an order by the judge to present a plan by Aug. 3 for carrying out the ruling.

read: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/us/detained-immigrant-children-judge-dolly-gee-ruling.html?_r=4



MARTIN O'MALLEY ON IMMIGRATION REFORM

Martin O'Malley is first candidate in this campaign to commit to addressing immigration within first 100 days if elected. That promise was followed by a detailed and comprehensive immigration reform plan which has been cheered by Latino activists and immigration advocates. From the O'Malley campaign:

As president, Martin O’Malley proposes to act immediately to:

•Extend Administrative Relief to Millions of New American Families
•Provide Deferred Action to the Greatest Possible Number of New Americans
•Expand Access to Waivers to the Three- or Ten-Year Bar
•Grant Broad Waivers to the Three- or Ten-Year Bar
•Issue guidance expanding parole-in-place to benefit all spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents
•Expand Access to Naturalization for New Americans
•Undertake significant outreach and educational programs to promote naturalization, including U.S. agency, media, and community outreach: directing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to identify and encourage lawful permanent residents who are eligible for citizenship to naturalize, while also expanding access to naturalization by lowering fees as appropriate
•Rescind the Regulations Restricting Health Care for DACA and DAPA-Recipients
•Use Detention Only as a Last Resort
•Limit Detention to Only Those Who Pose a Clear Threat to Public Safety
•End the 34,000 Bed Quota
•Close Inhumane Detention Facilities
•Restore Due Process Safeguards and Basic Fairness to Immigration Enforcement
•Expand Due Process Protections in the Detention and Immigration System
•Prevent Racial and Religious Profiling
•Direct immigration enforcement agents to obtain warrants from a judge, like any other law enforcement agency, in order to detain immigrants: also direct immigration enforcement agents to stop the routine issuance of U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) notification requests under the new Priority Enforcement Program, which may lead to unlawful detentions and transfers
•End 287(g) Agreements.
•Respect the Autonomy of States and Localities in Immigration Enforcement
•End the Coercion of Local Law Enforcement through Civil Immigration Warrants
•Create an Independent Agency to Set U.S. Immigration Policy
•Address Employment Barriers for Foreign Professionals
•Ensure that any future immigration legislation contains robust waiver provisions that restore the discretion of law enforcement and judges to consider individual factors—such as family and community ties; the nature, seriousness, and other circumstances of past criminal charges; passage of time; medical conditions; and contributions to community and family



MARTIN O'MALLEY ON CLOSING INHUMANE DETENTION CENTERS

Use Detention Only as a Last Resort

Conditions at immigrant detention facilities are deplorable – and those locked up in them are incarcerated not because they committed a crime, but because they are due to appear months or years later in immigration court. The system denies immigrants due process. It rips apart families. It traumatizes children. And taxpayers pick up the bill.

The Obama Administration has announced a number of reforms to detention policies, but none go far enough – in all but extraordinary circumstances, immigrant detentions must end for good.


As president, Governor O’Malley will:

Limit Detention to Only Those Who Pose a Clear Threat to Public Safety. The only individuals who should be detained are those who pose a clear threat to public safety or national security. O’Malley will direct DHS to use alternatives to detention for the vast majority of people. He will end the practice of holding children and families in detention centers. He will also end the detention of other vulnerable immigrants, especially LGBTQ individuals. This includes using the family placement and community-based supervision policies he successfully implemented in Maryland.

End the 34,000 Bed Quota. Congress requires DHS to maintain 34,000 beds in immigrant detention centers. The agency has historically interpreted this quota as setting a minimum number of beds, and entered contracts with detention centers that require the beds to be filled. Detention numbers should reflect of our actual public safety and national security needs, not an arbitrary target. O’Malley will issue guidance that DHS treat the bed mandate as a ceiling, not a floor – while working with Congress to establish funding levels for detention that reflect our public safety priorities.

Close Inhumane Detention Facilities. O’Malley will close or upgrade costly, inhumane, and violent detention centers. This includes the short-term facilities on the U.S.-Mexico border that often do not meet established detention standards. O’Malley will ensure the humane treatment of all detained individuals, increase oversight and monitoring, and bring criminal charges against bad actors. He will also work with Congress to codify higher detention standards and give immigrants a private right of action to enforce these accountability mechanisms.



read Martin O'Malley's detailed and comprehensive immigration reform plan: https://martinomalley.com/the-latest/immigration/

related:

O’Malley said “the whole world is watching” how the U.S. responds to the humanitarian crisis.

“We have to do right not just by these kids but by our kids and protect the children who are here, put them in the least restrictive settings, get them out of these detention centers and these kennels where they are being cooped up, and operate as the good and generous people that we have always been,” he added. “That’s what’s at stake here, as well as the lives of these kids.”
http://time.com/2978026/martin-omalley-minors-immigration/


That Time Martin O'Malley Stood Up For Border Kids When It Mattered
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251437721

Good look at what Governor O'Malley did to find housing for border children in Maryland:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/maryland-solicits-foster-parents-for-migrant-youths-as-omalley-meets-with-faith-leaders/2014/07/28/6a489d5a-1672-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265_story.html

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports more than 2,000 children have been relocated to Maryland in the first six months of this year (2014).
http://www.wbal.com/article/108816/12/omalley-holding-second-meeting-with-clergy-on-immigrant-children
21 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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O'Malley statement on US's detention of refugee moms, kids in advance of DHS response to court order (Original Post) bigtree Aug 2015 OP
Nice, but what can he do to get attention, both from the media and from the voters. Mass Aug 2015 #1
I'm wondering right now what he can do to get attention for his efforts in this forum bigtree Aug 2015 #2
HEAR HEAR! elleng Aug 2015 #7
Right now.. they are silent. Raine1967 Aug 2015 #9
thanks for caring, Raine! bigtree Aug 2015 #12
Kick, in case anybody cares about it\nt Mass Aug 2015 #3
Posting another thread because I care! elleng Aug 2015 #8
GREAT thread, elleng! bigtree Aug 2015 #13
K & R. n/t FSogol Aug 2015 #4
This is a huge issue. So proud to support a candidate who understands that. askew Aug 2015 #5
kick bigtree Aug 2015 #6
He has shown respect that many in the immigrant community say is lacking in debates on immigration elleng Aug 2015 #10
+1000 bigtree Aug 2015 #11
still no response from the other candidates? bigtree Aug 2015 #14
Heck no. elleng Aug 2015 #15
this burns me up every time I see another navel-gazing thread bigtree Aug 2015 #16
It does indeed say volumes, elleng Aug 2015 #19
Criminal-like detention of immigrant moms and kids bigtree Aug 2015 #17
O'Malley's statement was a thing of beauty. Vattel Aug 2015 #18
Yes it was a thing of beauty. Thanks, Vattel. elleng Aug 2015 #20
didn't find a thing from DHS in the news bigtree Aug 2015 #21

Mass

(27,315 posts)
1. Nice, but what can he do to get attention, both from the media and from the voters.
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 03:04 PM
Aug 2015

I am starting to doubt that we are still in a working democracy where ideas are debated and not in a reality show (Trump or not).

bigtree

(85,917 posts)
2. I'm wondering right now what he can do to get attention for his efforts in this forum
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 03:08 PM
Aug 2015

...where are the other campaigns on this important issue of refugee family detention?

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
9. Right now.. they are silent.
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 04:34 PM
Aug 2015

I have also read that defeating the billionaire class being is far more important than this issue.

At a certain point, and I really have to be honest here, it's about issues like this. I can understand rallying around being against the one percent.

In the end being against the 1% does what, exactly — for refugees? They don;t care about the billionaire class. They don't care about the 1%.

And we need to care about them, refugees.

I Care. I care enough to say this is worthy of attention.

elleng

(130,146 posts)
10. He has shown respect that many in the immigrant community say is lacking in debates on immigration
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 04:49 PM
Aug 2015

by using the term new Americans to refer to immigrants, whether here legally or not. He also established a state council to focus on integrating immigrants.

He opposed White House proposals to return young Central American children and families who crossed the U.S-Mexico border last summer, saying they would face “certain death.”

On deportations – an issue that still vexes the current administration – O’Malley stopped Baltimore’s City Detention Center from holding immigrants without criminal records for deportation by the federal government. Malley’s office also has hired former lobbyist and former Obama Hispanic media director of political engagement, Gabriela Domenzain, according to Buzzfeed.

https://martinomalley.com/the-latest/immigration-as-2016-issue-upped-with-martin-omalleys-candidacy/

bigtree

(85,917 posts)
14. still no response from the other candidates?
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 08:41 PM
Aug 2015

...178 House Democrats Urge Homeland Security to End Immigrant Detention

Following Gee's ruling, 177 House Democrats and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, reiterated the immigrant detention centers' closure.

"I am pleased that so many of my House colleagues including our top leaders are united in telling the President and Secretary of Homeland Security that putting moms and kids in detention just does not comport with our values as a Americans," said Gutierrez in a statement. "We have been making progress towards ending family detention all year, but the court ruling and the unity of Democrats on this matter make it clear that family detention is almost over. And good riddance."

The letter, addressed to Johnson, mentioned Gee's decision and how the DHS violated the 20-year-old Flores settlement agreement.

"It is long past time to end family detention. In light of this recent federal court ruling, we urge you take all necessary and appropriate steps to bring the Department [of Homeland Security's] practice in line with the settlement agreement and court ruling," read the letter.

"Last week's court ruling reaffirmed what many of my colleagues and I already recognize: that detaining children in prison-like facilities simply because of the immigration status of their parents is wrong and runs counter to our nation's highest values," said House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md. "The individuals being detained with their children in these centers are seeking asylum, and they ought to be treated with compassion."


Hoyer, Gutierrez, Lofgren and Roybal-Allard were among eight House Democrats who visited detention centers in Texas in June. Gutierrez, who referred to the detention centers as "prison camps," said the trip was "heartbreaking and very, very painful." He added that the immigrants are not in the prison camps because they've done anything wrong and most of them have spent nearly a year detained despite already meeting an immigration court judge.

http://www.latinpost.com/articles/69728/20150803/immigration-reform-news-178-house-democrats-urge-homeland-security-end.htm


bigtree

(85,917 posts)
16. this burns me up every time I see another navel-gazing thread
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 09:23 PM
Aug 2015

...about how Bernie's being treated unfairly with umpteen recs.

They can't support the Latino community with silence on the inhumane treatment of so many families. I sure hope we hear something soon. I know folks here hope this fades as fast as they let this thread drop, but ignoring this says volumes about their actual support for the Latino community.

elleng

(130,146 posts)
19. It does indeed say volumes,
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 10:29 PM
Aug 2015

burns me up too. and furthers the rationale for our devotion to MO'M's admirable and practical approach to addressing critical issues and problems.

bigtree

(85,917 posts)
17. Criminal-like detention of immigrant moms and kids
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 09:44 PM
Aug 2015
Fernando Espuelas ?@EspuelasVox (Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, political analyst on television, radio and print. More info: http://www.espuelas.com)

Criminal-like detention of immigrant moms and kids is an insufferable attack on human dignity. #uslatino #tntweeters
 

Vattel

(9,289 posts)
18. O'Malley's statement was a thing of beauty.
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 10:02 PM
Aug 2015

He is clearly the best candidate in terms of immigration issues. Sanders is a close second and Clinton trails far behind (IMHO).

elleng

(130,146 posts)
20. Yes it was a thing of beauty. Thanks, Vattel.
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 10:31 PM
Aug 2015

Don't know how Sanders has achieved 'a close second.'

bigtree

(85,917 posts)
21. didn't find a thing from DHS in the news
Tue Aug 4, 2015, 07:23 AM
Aug 2015

...no announcement, no nothing.

The releases of those petitioning families held should begin immediately.

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