According to SEC filings, Wells Fargo currently holds over 4 million shares in GEO Group and 50,000 shares in CCA. Combined, those shares are valued at $120 million. Further, Wells Fargo, a recipient of billions of bailout dollars, is a major contributor to politicians who have championed the increased incarceration of immigrants. Tell Wells Fargo to invest in our communities and divest from the private prison industry!

Protest endorsers include Grassroots Leadership and Texans United for Families.

On January 24 over a hundred people gathered in Tivoli Square to call for a boycott of Wells Fargo, one of the primary investors in GEO Group. GEO is the second largest private prison corporation in the country, and manages about 18% of immigration detention beds. Private prison companies lobby extensively at the federal, state and local levels for the laws and policies that are putting ever-growing numbers of people behind bars.

Tuesday’s protest was part of a National Day of Action, called for by Enlace’s Prison Divestment Campaign. The action in DC was one of a dozen simultaneous events around the country calling attention to the role of private prison companies in perpetuating the mass-incarceration epidemic. Friends and allies from OccupyDC as well as from the criminal justice community helped organize, produce and to outreach for what turned out to be a great event.

Please save the date for a day-long conference on immigration detention to be held on March 23, 2012 at Rutgers Law School — Newark. A save the date flyer is attached and the text pasted below. Please circulate widely.

As of now, panel topics will likely include:

• The realities of civil immigration detention (including who is being detained and why and the conditions of their confinement);
• Mandatory detention (including the impact of mandatory detention policies and alternatives to detention);
• Security and technology (including the use of video hearings, restricted access to lawyers, or restricted access to a law library or computer technology); and
• Access to counsel in immigration court proceedings for detainees

Conference speakers will be announced and registration will open shortly. Feel free to e-mail me with speaker recommendations.

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Together with Wall Street investors these companies finance anti immigrant laws like AZ Copycat Laws and lobby for anti immigrant federal policies like SCOMM.

Prison investors include Wells Fargo, Bank of America, General Electric, Fidelity, Wellington, and Vanguard.

Enlace is coordinating a National Day of Action on January 24th. Actions are being planned across the US.  To host an action and get involved contact Daniel at 213-284-3802 or Daniel@enlaceintl.org

Actions are being planning in:

• Tacoma, WA
• Portland, OR
• Los Angeles, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Austin, TX
• Denver, CO
• Wichita, KS
• Salt Lake City, UT
• Nashville, TN
• Hempstead, NY
• Washington DC
• Atlanta, GA
• San Jose, CA
• Boca Raton, FL

The video includes chilling images of a morgue in Tucson, Arizona in which row after row of body bags contain human remains that may never be identified, of people whose families may never know what happened to them.

Stand with Breakthrough and recognize this human rights crisis that is taking place at our border. Watch and share this video, and take action against this human rights crisis with No More Deaths and Coalition de Derechos Humanos.

VIDEO CREDITS: Directed, filmed and edited by Dana Variano with Ishita Srivastava; music by Denver Dalley; post-production audio by Hobo Audio. Produced by Breakthrough.

The National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights (NCIWR) will soon be releasing a white paper highlighting some of the challenges that immigrant women face in their daily lives, as well as in immigration detention and with the immigration “enforcement” system.

While we already have some personal stories spotlighted in our report, we wanted to reach out one last time to you all to see if any of you have clients willing to share their stores about experiences with law enforcement, accessing public benefits, being separated from partners or children (including separation of same-sex partners and of same-sex couples from their children), or sex/gender-identity-specific abuse in detention.

Please feel free to contact me (Anjela@latinainstitute.org) if you have stories you’d like to share or if your organization is interested in joining NCIWR and forming part of a community of advocates who work deliberately at the intersection of gender and immigration issues.

At an average rate of $200 per night/per inmate, private prison operators profit over $5 billion a year. How do they do it? Like con-artists, they lure town councils and local government officials with promises of easy money and increased revenue. However, what they don’t tell them is at what cost!

Littlefield, Texas found out the hard way. Private prison operators promised increased “product” (aka detained immigrants) and alleged prosperity for a town that was struggling with an economic crisis. Instead, what Littlefield got was a mega-complex private facility, an additional $10 million contractual debt, and a fleeing population.

District Court Rules that “Arriving Aliens” May Not Be Subjected to Prolonged Detention Without a Hearing To Determine Whether Detention Is Justified

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

SAN DIEGO — A district court today ruled that the Department of Homeland Security may not detain an immigrant for a prolonged period without proving that detention is justified in an individualized hearing. It is the first ruling to find that immigrants classified as “arriving aliens” – a large group encompassing all individuals stopped at the border, including asylum seekers – are entitled to fair hearing protections against arbitrary detention. DHS had argued that it has sole discretion to decide whether to detain or release an “arriving alien” and that the law does not require detention hearings.

The San Diego ACLU brought a habeas petition on behalf of Glorismel Centeno Ortiz in August 2011 after he had languished in immigration detention for three years. The government had held Centeno without a hearing to determine whether his detention was justified by classifying him as an “arriving alien,” a category that can apply even to individuals who have lived in the United States for decades with legal status. The government relies on Cold War-era rulings to justify its position that “arriving aliens” like Mr. Centeno have no due process rights to physical liberty.

Mr. Centeno, an asylum seeker who has lived in the United States since he was 11 years old was released from custody shortly after the ACLU filed the habeas petition. The government then argued that the habeas petition was moot.

Today’s ruling by Chief Judge Irma Gonzalez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California rejected both the government’s mootness argument and its position that arriving aliens could be detained without so much as an individualized hearing to determine whether their detention is justified.

“Under the court’s ruling, asylum seekers who are fleeing persecution and torture in their home lands should finally receive a fair hearing to determine whether their detention serves any purpose,” said Sean Riordan, staff attorney of the San Diego ACLU. “For too long the government has withheld this kind of minimal due process protection to those who need it most.”

Centeno was brought to Los Angeles by his mother, who was fleeing the violence of the Salvadoran civil war, in which her brother was killed by guerillas. As a teenager, Centeno became entangled with gangs and was convicted of armed robbery and deported to El Salvador, even though his petition for asylum was still pending. Fearing for his life Centeno returned to Los Angeles and obtained counseling from Homies Unidos, an organization that helps young people leave gangs.

Since his return to the United Sates, Centeno has dedicated his life to helping other young men leave the life of gangs. He has lead camping trips and given talks at schools, all the while working as a dishwasher, car mechanic, air conditioning repairman and raising his son. According to a senior staff member at Homies Unidos, Centeno is “one of our most reliable and committed volunteers.”

In 2007, Centeno went to Tijuana to enjoy a night out with friends. When he returned to the border, he was immediately arrested and charged with criminal illegal reentry after deportation. In July 2008, a judge dismissed criminal charges against Centeno, but he remained in detention several more years, until his release in September.

A dialogue among experts in the criminal justice/corrections and immigration detention systems

As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security takes steps to reform the immigration detention system – a patchwork of 33,400 beds scattered throughout the country in over 250 different facilities, holding a diverse population under its “civil” immigration enforcement authority – there are lessons to be learned from experiences, challenges and best practices in the criminal justice/corrections system. Please join our panel of distinguished experts in a discussion of conditions of confinement, access to legal counsel, alternatives to detention/incarceration, barriers to release, and use of discretion in decision to detain/incarcerate.

Monday, January 30, 2012
8:30 – 10:00 AM
Coffee and a light breakfast will be served beginning at 8:00 AM

Hosted by Arnold & Porter L.L.P.
555 12th Street Northwest
Washington, D.C. 20004

** Facebook Event Listing **

PROGRAM

• Moderator: Samuel M. Witten, Counsel, Arnold & Porter, and former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (2007 – 2010).

Panelists:

• Steve J. Martin, Attorney, corrections consultant, and former General Counsel of the Texas prison system
• Laura Sullivan, Correspondent and Investigative Reporter for National Public Radio
• Gary Mead, Executive Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Ruthie Epstein, Researcher & Advocate, Refugee Protection Program, Human Rights First

RSVP to plummerk@humanrightsfirst.org by Friday, January 27th

PRESENTERS

Steve J. Martin
Attorney, Corrections Consultant, and former General Counsel of the Texas Prison System
Steve J. Martin is a career corrections professional currently engaged in private practice as a corrections consultant. He is actively involved in a variety of roles as a consulting expert, federal court monitor and court-appointed expert in 15 states plus the American Virgin Islands. He served as a corrections expert for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, for approximately 15 years and currently serves as an expert for the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. He has served or currently serves as a federal court monitor in three prison systems and four large metropolitan jail systems. During more than 39 years in the criminal justice field, Mr. Martin has worked as a correctional officer, probation and parole officer, and prosecutor. He is the former General Counsel/Chief of Staff of the Texas prison system as well as having served gubernatorial appointments in Texas on both a sentencing commission and a council for mentally impaired offenders. He coauthored a book on Texas prisons (Texas Prisons, The Walls Came Tumbling Down, Texas Monthly Press, 1987), and has written numerous articles on criminal justice issues. He has served as an adjunct/visiting faculty member at seven different universities including the University of Texas School of Law and Queens University, Belfast. Mr. Martin has been continuously involved in institutional reform litigation since 1981. This work includes extensive experience in the largest confinement operations (prison, jails, and juvenile facilities) in the United States. He has appeared/testified before a large variety of oversight entities including the U. S. Congress. He has extensive experience in the development of correctional standards, policies, procedures and guidelines for confinement operations across the United States.

Laura Sullivan
Correspondent and Investigative Reporter for National Public Radio
Laura Sullivan is a NPR News investigative correspondent whose work has cast a light on some of the country’s most disadvantaged people. Ms. Sullivan joined NPR in 2004 as a correspondent on the National Desk. For six years she covered crime and punishment issues, with reports airing regularly on Morning Edition, All Things Considered and other NPR programs. Over the years, Ms. Sullivan’s work has been honored by many of journalism’s highest awards, including two Peabody Awards and two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Batons. “Bonding for Profit” – a three-part investigative series that aired on Morning Edition and All Things Considered in 2010 – earned Ms. Sullivan her second duPont and Peabody, as well as awards from the Scripps Howard Foundation, Harvard University’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, and the American Bar Association. Working with editor Steve Drummond, Ms. Sullivan’s stories in this series revealed deep and costly flaws in one of the most common – and commonly misunderstood – elements of the U.S. criminal justice system. Also in 2011, Sullivan was honored for the second time by Investigative Reporters and Editors for her two-part series examining the origins of Arizona’s controversial immigration law SB 1070. Before joining NPR, Ms. Sullivan was a Washington correspondent for The Baltimore Sun, where she covered the Justice Department, the FBI and terrorism.

Gary Mead
Executive Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Gary Mead is the executive associate director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Washington D.C. Mr. Mead oversees a $2.5 billion budget and 8,395 employees. ERO promotes public safety and national security by removing national security threats, high-risk criminal aliens, illegal alien fugitives, and absconders; and ensuring safe and effective custody management for more than 30,000 illegal aliens in custody each day. Between 1974 and 2006, he served in the U.S. Marshals Service where he held a number of Senior Executive Service law enforcement and administrative positions at the associate and assistant director levels. His areas of responsibility included Prisoner Operations, Asset Forfeiture, JPATS, Management and Budget, Human Resources, and the U.S. Marshals Service Training Academy. Between 2006 and 2008, he served as the assistant director for management, deputy director and acting director for the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations (currently, ERO). From 2008 to 2009, Mr. Mead was a self-employed criminal justice and immigration consultant. He returned to ICE in November 2009 as deputy assistant director, and then assistant director, of Detention Management. Mr. Mead holds a master’s degree and has received two Senior Executive Service Presidential Rank Awards.

Ruthie Epstein
Researcher & Advocate, Refugee Protection Program, Human Rights First
Ruthie Epstein works as a Researcher & Advocate in the Refugee Protection Program at Human Rights First, with a focus on U.S. domestic asylum policy and immigration detention. Ms. Epstein is the author of “Jails and Jumpsuits: Transforming the U.S. Immigration Detention System – A Two-Year Review,” released in October 2011. She presented the preliminary findings of this report in August at the annual meeting of the American Bar Association. Ms. Epstein has also worked extensively on the issue of Iraqi displacement and wrote the report “Promises to the Persecuted: The Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act” (2009). Previously, she helped to run Human Rights First’s pro bono legal representation program for indigent asylum seekers in New York and New Jersey. She holds a Master’s of International Affairs from Columbia University and an A.B. in history from Washington University in St. Louis.

Samuel M. Witten
Counsel, Arnold & Porter, and former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration
Samuel Witten has an extensive background in international law, the development and implementation of corporate compliance programs, international dispute settlement, and international law enforcement cooperation. He represents domestic and international clients in litigation and arbitrations and in domestic enforcement and regulatory matters. Before joining Arnold & Porter, Mr. Witten served in the State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser for 19 years, including five years as Assistant Legal Adviser for Law Enforcement and Intelligence and six years as Deputy Legal Adviser (equivalent to Deputy General Counsel), where he supervised the State Department’s legal work on law enforcement, human rights, and refugee issues. He served for three years (2007-2010) as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration (“PRM”), where he helped manage the U.S. government’s worldwide programs for the relief of refugees and the admission of refugees into the United States for resettlement. He was Acting Secretary of State for PRM from 2007-2009 and directed the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs in 2009. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Women’s Refugee Commission and is President of the Washington Foreign Law Society, a nonprofit group that advances the understanding of international law and foreign affairs.

Dear Colleagues,

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants is seeking submissions on immigration detention worldwide. The deadline is 1/30/12.

Michele Garnett McKenzie of the Advocates for Human Rights and Laura Rivas and Cathi Tactaquin of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights have offered to coordinate a joint submission for DWN allies to sign on to that will include:

• A brief background of immigrant detention in the U.S., the status to date of promised detention reforms, and a list of 5 priority issues linked to international human rights for the Rapporteur’s investigation.
• An appendix of recent reports on detention and past submissions to international human rights bodies

Here are ways that you can be involved:

• You are welcome to send any reports, case examples, and other materials that you think should be included in the collaborative submission. Please send these directly to Michele Garnett McKenzie at mmckenzie@advrights.org
• Given the very short timeframe, we are not able to have a more collaborative process. However, you are welcome to send suggestion for priorities to Michele as well. We will do our best to draft as comprehensive a submission as possible.
• There will be an opportunity for organizations to add your name to the final submission.
• We also encourage you to submit your own materials directly to the UNSR if you have the capacity and resources.

There will also be other opportunities to share your expertise on immigration detention with international human rights bodies throughout 2012, including drafting of the ICCPR Shadow Report. We will keep you posted.