Jayapal, Smith introduce bill to reform immigration detention

Congress members Pramila Jayapal and Adam Smith introduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act earlier this month to impose oversight on immigration detention and protect detainees’ civil and human rights.

“Under the Trump Administration, we have seen a shocking surge in the detention of people who have committed no crimes being locked up in increasingly horrifying conditions,” said Jayapal. “People are being held in squalor, largely in private, for-profit detention facilities, all to pad the bottom lines of prison corporations that donate to Donald Trump and Republicans. As Trump has struck down legal pathways and made it nearly impossible to come to or stay in this country, even for those who have been here for decades, this will only continue to get worse.”

Smith called detention conditions appalling.

“No one should be subjected to overcrowded cells, denied medical care, or held in facilities that profit off of human suffering,” he said. “This legislation establishes the oversight and guardrails needed to end these abuses and ensure that people are treated with dignity.”

Since Trump’s return to office, more than 66,000 people have been held in immigration detention, with nearly three-quarters having no criminal convictions. During this time, 23 detainees have died. Reports describe severe overcrowding, inadequate food, withheld medication, and the return of family detention, despite longstanding concerns about harm to children.

The bill seeks to repeal mandatory detention, end family detention, increase protections for vulnerable groups, phase out private detention centers within three years, and require unannounced inspections by the Department of Homeland Security and Congressional access to facilities.