In May 2007, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants toured the United States on a fact-finding mission to investigate the conditions of immigrants and migrants living in the United States. The visit included tours of detention facilities in Arizona, Texas, and New Jersey.

In preparation for the visit, a detention and deportation working group composed of non-governmental organizations and legal aid agencies from throughout the country submitted briefing papers highlighting human rights and due process violations they have encountered at federal detention facilities and county jails where immigrant detainees are held.

The papers offer recommendations for vital detention reforms necessary to restore justice and humanity to the U.S. immigration system.

U.S. Immigration Detention Policy and the Need for Reform

Overview of the U.S. Immigration Detention System

Mandatory Detention, Prolonged Detention, and Indefinite Detention

Tracking ICE's Enforcement Policy

Information on Raids in Massachusetts

Profit Motives Behind Immigration Detention

Alternatives to Detention

Detention Conditions and the Violation of Immigrants' Basic Rights

Conditions of Confinement

Oversight of Immigration Detention

Access to Counsel for Detained Immigrants

Immigration Detention's Most Vulnerable Prisoners

Children: Detention/Deportation Issues Impacting Unaccompanied Children

Women: Situation of Immigrant Women Detained in the United States

Asylum Seekers: Arbitrary Detention of Immigrants Seeking Asylum

Recommendations for Reforming Immigration Detention