News & Success Stories

AI Justice Supervising Attorney Catherine Walker is honored to have worked with Jean Paul to secure his release from immigration detention. Born and raised in Haiti, Jean Paul dreamed of becoming a lawyer. After graduating from the École de Droit et des Sciences Economiques des Gonaïves (EDSEG), as he was preparing to apply to law school, armed bandits kidnapped him …

By Jenese Harris “Civil rights activists, attorneys and supporters of detainees gathered Friday on the footsteps of the federal courthouse in Jacksonville, calling for the Baker County Detention Center to be shut down over the alleged mistreatment of immigrants detained at the jail. Andrea Jacoski, with Americans for Immigrant Justice, represents people detained in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody …

Dear President Biden, We, the undersigned groups, believe that the best traditions of our country demand that we protect the rights and dignity of people who come to our nation in pursuit of safety or a better life. We urge you to recognize that our shared values of humanity and compassion require the dismantling of our system of mass immigrant …

by Syra Ortiz-Blanes “Legal service groups that represent detained migrants have sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alleging the agency prevents lawyers and their clients in Miami’s Krome Detention Center and three other detention facilities from speaking regularly and confidentially. ‘Defendants have systematically failed to ensure compliance with constitutional requirements, federal law, and ICE’s own policies regarding access to counsel,’ …

By Daniel Wiessner “Groups that provide legal services to immigrants seeking asylum have filed a lawsuit accusing the U.S. agency that operates detention facilities of violating the U.S. Constitution by making it difficult for lawyers to meet with detainees. The five nonprofit groups, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, claim U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has prevented regular …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 13, 2022 Contacts: Devra Gelman, Americans for Immigrant Justice, [email protected] ACLU of Florida Media Office, [email protected], (786) 363-2737 Jocelyn De Carvalho, Milbank, [email protected] MIAMI, FL — Several legal services organizations filed a lawsuit today against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for unlawfully preventing attorneys from communicating with immigrants detained in four detention facilities in Florida, Louisiana, …

by Michael Moline A coalition of civil-rights groups that includes the ACLU of Florida have filed an administrative complaint alleging a pattern of “horrific” mistreatment of immigration detainees being held at the Baker County Detention Center in North Florida. The 22-page complaint, addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and related government departments including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), seeks …

By Armando Garcia “A former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee in Florida said a group of officers threatened to take him to solitary confinement, then assaulted him, according to a federal complaint filed by several immigration groups. The allegation is part of a 102-page complaint against the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny by a group of 15 current …

by Tarik Minor “Andrea Jacoski is the director for Americans for Immigrant Justice, whose law firm assisted in coauthoring the federal complaint calling for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to shutter the federal facility. Spoiled and rotten food, a lack of hygiene products and non-drinkable water documented in the complaint are among the injustices immigrant advocates want the public …

by Dan Scanlan “Andrea Jacoski, a director with Americans for Immigrant Justice, said her team saw abuses during site visits and heard more during interviews with clients detained there. ‘We have authored reports and complaint letters throughout the years alerting ICE and the Baker County Sheriff’s Office staff, who oversee the detention center, of the egregious human rights violations occurring …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: [email protected] MIAMI (July 7, 2022) — Following news that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declined to extend its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention contract with Glades County, the Shut Down Glades Coalition celebrates the following five wins achieved by sustained pressure over the past year and a half in its fight to close Glades …

April 20, 2022 The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Department of Homeland Security 2707 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE Washington, DC 20528 Re: PETITION Requesting the Administration to Abstain from Renewing Contract with Glades County (Florida) with a Performance Period End Date of April 30, 2022. Dear Secretary Mayorkas, The undersigned Florida …

Following the transfer or release of all remaining individuals under its custody from the Florida detention center, ICE announces end of “guaranteed minimum” agreement  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 25, 2022 Contact: [email protected] MIAMI — This week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) transferred all remaining individuals in its custody out of the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida, …

By Syra Ortiz-Blanes and Michael Wilner “Lily Hartmann, a human rights advocate at Americans for Immigrant Justice, said her organization applauded the announcement to limit use of the facility. But she also told the Herald that they and other immigrant rights organizations continue to push for the facility’s permanent closure so that no immigrants are detained there in the future. …

By Syra Ortiz-Blanes “A group of 17 members of Congress asked Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday to shutter a Florida detention center that houses migrant detainees and that is at the heart of multiple complaints made to the Biden administration. The Feb. 2 letter points to a slew of recent grievances from immigration advocates and watchdog …

October 25, 2021 Contact: Rebecca Talbot, Immigrant Action Alliance, [email protected], 484-645-3394 Jessica Schneider, Director of AI Justice’s Detention Program, [email protected] A coalition of local and national organizations filed a civil rights complaint today calling for the release of people detained in immigration detention and for an investigation into serious abuses committed against two men detained in the county jail in Glades County, …

September 20, 2021 Newly obtained records reveal officials at Florida immigration detention center used industrial-strength chemical at 64 times strength allowed by EPA Contact: Jeff Migliozzi, Freedom for Immigrants, [email protected] Devra Gelman, Americans for Immigrant Justice, [email protected] GLADES COUNTY, Fla. – A disturbing investigative report published in Scientific American reveals that officials at a federal immigration detention center in Glades …

by Matthew Phelan, Scientific American “Every day crowded cells holding people at an immigration detention facility in Florida have been doused with caustic disinfectants that have caused breathing problems and bleeding, according to reports from the detainees. The disinfectants contain two chemical compounds that scientific research has implicated in long-term damage to human cells and—in animals—to reproductive health. On August …

“Seven immigrant women held at a remote immigration detention center in Florida filed a complaint with federal officials, shedding light on an appalling pattern of abuses including sexual abuse by guards and a psychiatrist amounting to violations of the Prison Rape Elimination Acts (PREA), exposure to a highly toxic chemical spray, life-threatening medical neglect, violations of COVID-19 safety protocols, and …

In recent months, our Detention team has seen a marked change in the number and types of immigrants detained locally and nationwide. In January 2021, the Biden administration inherited a record low number of 14,195 people in immigration detention, in large part due to Trump’s closing of the border following COVID-19. Fast-forward almost 6 months later, and over 27,000 persons have …