The fear of deportation is a reality that many immigrants in the United States live with everyday. Individuals targeted for deportation will go through a process that is in place. Being taken into custody may be a part of that process. To that end, there are detention centers located throughout the nation. A report recently released looked at a total of 105 of those facilities. Each night, the facilities house up to 34,000 immigrants. The report was pulled together by pro-immigrant advocacy groups– Detention Watch Network and National Immigration Justice Center.
The report was formulated based on documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests and litigation that has transpired throughout the years. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the report pointed out faults in how the facilities are maintained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Specifically there is a concern that ICE not only self-regulates, but self-audits as well. ICE indicated that it plans to review the report.
There are multiple reasons why an immigrant could find that he or she is facing a deportation hearing. In certain situations, green card holders, individuals in possession of visas and immigrants without proper documentation could all find that they are in this position. Fortunately, deportation is not a foregone conclusion. Working with an immigration lawyer could result in the person facing removal being able to stay in the U.S.
When someone is deported it generally impacts more than just that person. It can also cause havoc in workplaces, communities and most importantly families of the person who is deported. For those reasons it is vital that individuals facing deportation take action to try to fight the removal.