Dear Senators:

As faith-based, human rights, and community-based organizations, we urge you to support the "Secure and Safe Detention and Asylum Act," a bill introduced by Senators Lieberman, Brownback, Kennedy, and Hagel.   

Recent reports by "60 Minutes," The New York Times and The Washington Post revealed the shockingly sub-standard and sometimes life threatening conditions under which many asylum seekers and other noncitizens are held in federal custody.  Sadly, these reports were not news to many of us.  As we know from direct experience with our clients, members, and constituents, immigration detainees frequently have to fight to obtain basic medical care and access to legal protections under law.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and numerous press reports over the years have issued findings consistent with these most recent reports. 

The Secure and Safe Detention and Asylum Act is needed now more than ever to guarantee safe and humane conditions in immigration detention.  We ask that you cosponsor and vote in support of this bill. 

The Secure and Safe Detention and Asylum Act will implement the key recommendations of the bipartisan congressionally mandated USCIRF report on detention of asylum seekers. USCIRF issued a highly critical report in 2005 and an updated progress report in 2007 describing procedures that impair the right to seek asylum, and describing the poor treatment of asylum seekers held in U.S. immigration detention.  The bill will ensure due process is afforded at the border so that vulnerable populations are not turned away.  It will improve conditions of detention and increase oversight, requiring deaths to be reported and investigated.  It will also promote cost-saving alternatives to detention for asylum seekers and others seeking protection in the United States who pose no threat to our communities.

A version of the Secure and Safe Detention and Asylum Act was adopted by unanimous consent as an amendment to the 2007 comprehensive immigration reform legislation, but unfortunately that larger legislative package was not enacted into law.  The Secure and Safe Detention and Asylum Act makes a number of positive and overdue changes to the immigration detention system including:

• Fair treatment of asylum seekers, including the requirement that initial interviews are taped to ensure vulnerable populations are not discouraged from seeking protection, and the provision of custody hearings so that those who meet eligibility requirements are not denied release.

• Nationwide expansion of federally funded legal orientation programs (LOPs) for detained immigrants to ensure that they understand their rights and the availability of relief, if any.  LOPs save money and increase the efficiency of the immigration courts.

• Implementation and enforcement of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Standards, including promulgation of standards on fair and humane treatment; access to legal counsel; location of detention facilities near sources of free or low-cost legal services; and improved provision of medical care.

• Increased use of detention alternatives, such as release on recognizance, supervised release, electronic monitoring, or programs run by private, faith-based or other non-governmental groups.  These secure alternatives are successful and cost-effective, costing much less than detention. 

• Improved oversight of the system including mandatory reporting and investigation of deaths in detention, higher professional accreditation requirements for detention facilities, and the creation of an Office of Detention Oversight within DHS to conduct inspections, receive complaints from detainees, and report on noncompliance with detention standards.

Thank you for considering co-sponsorship and a vote in support of this critical legislation.

Sincerely,

Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc.

American Immigration Lawyers Association

American Jewish Committee

Asian American Justice Center

Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture

Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition

Center for Community Change

Center for National Security Studies

Center for Victims of Torture

Centro Legal, Inc., St. Paul, MN

The Episcopal Church

Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Inc.

Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center

Hate Free Zone

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society

Human Rights First

Human Rights Watch

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights

Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota

Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, Portland, ME

Immigration Equality

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA

Jubilee Campaign USA

Korean American Resource & Cultural Center, Chicago, IL

Korean Resource Center, Los Angeles, CA

Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Inc.

Latinos Unidos/United de Michigan

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, San Francisco, CA

Legal Momentum

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition

National Immigrant Justice Center

National Immigration Forum

National Immigration Law Center

National Korean American Service & Education Consortium

Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest

New York Immigration Coalition

New York University School of Medicine, Center for Health and Human Rights

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project

Organization of Chinese Americans

Physicians for Human Rights

Political Asylum Project of Austin

Rocky Mountain Survivors Center, Denver, CO

South Asian Americans Leading Together

Stop Prisoner Rape

Tahirih Justice Center

The Advocates for Human Rights (formerly Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights)

United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

Voces de la Frontera, Milwaukee, WI

Washington Defender Association's Immigration Project

Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children

World Relief

YKASEC - Empowering the Korean American Community, Flushing, NY