The Special Rapporteur's report is the result of a three-week fact-finding mission he conducted in 2007. While he was invited to conduct the mission by the U.S. government, he was subsequently denied access to two detention centers without, in his words, satisfactory explanation.

The Special Rapporteur's recommendations reflect those contained in briefing papers that the National Immigrant Justice Center and other non-governmental organizations submitted prior to his visit. The recommendations include:

• Eliminate mandatory detention laws and require the Department of Homeland Security to evaluate on a case-by-case basis whether a non-citizen is a threat to society or a flight risk to justify detention.

 

• Comply with two Supreme Court decisions, Zadvydas v. Davis and Clark v. Martinez, which state that individuals who cannot be returned to their home countries must not be detained longer than six months after their case is completed.

   

• Implement effective alternatives to reduce the U.S. government's overuse of immigrant detention, which the Special Rapporteur found to be in violation of several international human rights laws.

   

• Create legally binding human rights standards to govern the treatment of immigrant detainees.

   

• Guarantee detained immigrants the right to appointed counsel.
• Detain immigrants only in facilities that are located within easy reach of legal service providers and pro bono counsel.

   

• Guarantee a day in court to all non-citizens who are subject to detention.

   

• Provide judicial review of immigrants' custody so that custody decisions are not made by government officials but by immigration judges.

   

• Consider the gender-specific needs of detained immigrant women who have suffered violence or are pregnant or nursing.

The National Immigrant Justice Center released a statement today commending the Special Rapporteur's recommendations and calling for the U.S. government to institute reforms that will restore justice and human decency to the U.S. immigration system.

The ACLU also made a statement today before the U.N. Human Rights Commission, endorsed by NIJC and other NGOs, calling for detention reform.

Click here to read even more about U.S. immigrant detention policy.