Web Resources
ORIGINAL REPORTS
National Public Radio (NPR)
Read and listen to Zwerdling's award-winning series in 2004 on the abuse of immigrant detainees as broadcast on All Things Considered and his piece a year later on "The Death of Richard Rust."
ADDITIONAL ARTICLES
"New Scrutiny As Immigrants Die in Custody," The New York Times, 06/26/2007
Read Nina Bernstein's frontpage article on immigrant detainees dying in federal prisons.
"Border Policy's Success Strains Resources," The Washington Post, 02/02/2007
Built in the summer of 2006, Raymondville is the largest immigrant prison camp in the United States, hosting over 2,000 illegal immigrants. Learn more about what the Washington Post describes as "a futuristic tent city in the remote southern tip of Texas."
GOVERNMENT
Government Accountability Office Report to Congressional Requestors on "Alien Detention Standards" (July 2007)
This GAO report confirmed Zwerdling's suspicions that abuses were not isolated to the jails he was able to investigate. The report examined 23 alien detention facilities and found, as Zwerdling had, that "deficiencies involved medical care, use of hold rooms, use of force . . . access to legal materials [and] facility grievance procedures;" the report also noted problems with food service, recreational opportunities, and overcrowding.
Department of Homeland Security, Audit Report:
"Treatment of Immigration Detainees Housed at Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facilities" (December 2006)
This audit by the DHS Inspector General focused on 5 detention facilities, including the two New Jersey facilities -- Passaic County Jail (PCJ) and the Hudson County Correction Center (HCCC) -- in Zwerdling's reporting. The audit "identified instances of non-compliance with ICE Detention Standards" at both PCJ and HCCC in regards to health care standards, "including timely initial and responsive medical care," and "general conditions of confinement . . . including disciplinary policy."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
ICE is now the largest investigative branch of the Department of Homeland Security, and assumes enforcement functions formerly held by the now defunct INS. One of ICE's missions is to prevent illegal immigration by detaining and removing criminal aliens. It is also responsible for the care and treatment of alien detainees, a responsibility that has increased over the last 5 years as the number of detained aliens has risen from 95,000 in 2001 to 283,000 in 2006.
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Under the U.S. Department of Justice, this agency was established over 75 years ago "to provide more progressive and humane care for Federal inmates."
IMMIGRATION ADVOCACY AND LAW
Families for Freedom
Featured in "An Inside Job," this New York-based organization is a defense network run by and for immigrants facing and fighting deportation.
Center for Immigration Studies (CIS)
Founded in 1985, CIS is the nation's only think tank devoted to research and policy analysis of the economic, social, demographic, fiscal, and other impacts of immigration on the United States.
National Immigration Law Center (NILC)
NILC is an advocacy group dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of low-income immigrants and their family members.
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
AILA is a national association of over 10,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law.
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