CALL, TWEET, LIKE AND SHARE!
Rep. Ilhan Omar has written a letter to demand an end to the expansion of ICE detention facilities in Minnesota. READ LETTER BELOW.
CONTACT your representative before July 12th and demand they sign on to Ilhan’s letter!
ICE detention centers are cesspools of physical and sexual abuse, neglect, religious and cultural discrimination and even death!
NOT one more tax dollar can go to this system of oppression!
CALL and TWEET and say something like: “Hi, my name is ______ and I live in your district. I oppose expanding ICE detention facilities in Minnesota. I am asking you to sign on to Representative Ilhan Omar’s letter to ICE Acting Director Mark Morgan opposing the expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in Minnesota. Will you do that?”
Minnesota Congressional Delegation
Both senators represent all Minnesotans so please contact both of them:
Senator Amy Klobuchar
U.S. House of Representatives
Rep. Ilhan Omar (Fifth District)
(thank her for taking initiative in opposing ICE expansion!)
(202) 225-4755 | Twitter
@IlhanMN |
Web contact form
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Letter to ICE’s Acting Director Mark Morgan
The Honorable Mark Morgan
Acting Director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
500 12th Street Southwest, Mail Stop 5003
Washington, DC 20536-5003
Dear Acting Director Morgan:
We write to oppose the expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in Minnesota. We do not believe that Minnesota needs more detention beds, rather policies should be shifted to focus on more humane community-based options. We strongly urge you to abandon the effort to increase detention in our state.
The Sherburne County Jail has contracted with the U.S. government to house immigration detainees and other federal inmates for several years. Earlier this month, Minnesota Public Radio reported[1] that the jail has proposed nearly doubling its capacity for detention from 300 beds to 500 beds. Sherburne County’s proposal is especially concerning due to the number of complaints our offices have received about treatment while in detention at Sherburne County. Our constituents have reported poor medical care, lack of access to medicine, and limited opportunities for mental engagement. Additionally, we have received reports that Sherburne County has taken discriminatory action against some of the detained by selectively denying religious and cultural programming.
The Prairie Correctional Facility, a private prison in Appleton, Minnesota, run by CoreCivic, Inc. has also reportedly proposed using their facility for ICE detention. Since 2010, the State of Minnesota has declined to use this facility in preference for publicly-owned and operated facilities, and we urge ICE to follow our state’s lead. CoreCivic has been the subject of multiple investigations, and media have reported egregious misconduct in their facilities, including sexual assault[2], negligence, poor medical care, and even death[3]. Such companies have no business running a detention facility.
Instead of expanding expensive, inhumane detention, we urge you to adopt community-based alternatives to detention. Many of these practices have been employed by ICE with great success, consistently showing they are effective while costing exponentially less – a fact that’s been confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security.[4]But even those numbers speak only to the cost to taxpayers– they don’t include the immeasurable costs being paid every day by the detained, their families and their communities. The policy of extended detention for all individuals, regardless of flight risk or history of violent behavior, tears families apart without providing any benefit to our communities.
Lastly, funding for additional beds raises issues in ongoing Congressional appropriations debates. Rather than investing resources to expand capacity while those very resources are in limbo, we urge you to act responsibly with taxpayer dollars and invest in proven programs that respect both individual rights and government resources.
We stand with our constituents, who overwhelmingly oppose the Administration’s efforts to expand detention. We urge you to reverse course on your expansion in Minnesota.
Sincerely,
[1] https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/06/04/sherburne-county-proposes-expanding-jail-for-more-ice-detainees
[2] https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2017-12-01/allegations-mount-at-t-don-hutto/
[3] https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/06/20/code-red/fatal-consequences-dangerously-substandard-medical-care-immigration
[4] https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/images/zdocs/The-Real-Alternatives-to-Detention-FINAL-06-27-17.pdf
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MIRAC 