October, 06 2009, 12:31pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
AIUSA media office,Email:,media@aiusa.org,Phone: 202-544-0200 x302
Amnesty International Encouraged by Secretary Napolitano's Decision to Identify New Detention Practices
Sarnata Reynolds, Amnesty International USA's policy director
for refugee and migrants rights,
issued the following statement in response to U.S. Department of Homeland
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's decision to identity new forums
for immigrant detention:
"Amnesty International is encouraged by Secretary Napolitano's decision
to find new environments for immigrants that will not require prison jumpsuits
and jail cells. However, without a change in law, thousands of immigrants
will continue to be arbitrarily deprived of their liberty.
WASHINGTON
Sarnata Reynolds, Amnesty International USA's policy director
for refugee and migrants rights,
issued the following statement in response to U.S. Department of Homeland
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's decision to identity new forums
for immigrant detention:
"Amnesty International is encouraged by Secretary Napolitano's decision
to find new environments for immigrants that will not require prison jumpsuits
and jail cells. However, without a change in law, thousands of immigrants
will continue to be arbitrarily deprived of their liberty.
"Even after today's announcement is implemented, without a change in
the law, tens of thousands of immigrants will still not have the right
to a bond hearing determining whether their detentions are warranted. Many
others will be detained for years, isolated from family members. Some
detainees may even be wrongfully deported. The law must be changed
in order for every immigrant to have the right to a bond hearing.
"Thoughtful, effective and low-cost alternatives
to detention exist, but they remain underutilized. Amnesty International
encourages the Secretary to consider the use of economical and successful
alternatives to detention in all cases. The immigration detention
system is a crutch that sustains a shattered, inept and inhumane enforcement
policy. It is a pitiable substitution for smart immigration policies.
A significant reform of the entire system is desperately needed now -
not tomorrow."
In 2009, the United States expects to detain more than 440,000 immigrants,
a number that has been steadily rising. This number includes asylum
seekers, lawful permanent residents, survivors of torture, and U.S. citizens.
Amnesty International recently released a
major report, Jailed Without Justice, documenting shocking human
rights abuses, along with dramatic increases in costs to taxpayers that
are related to the surge in immigration
enforcement and detention in the United States. For a copy of the
report or further information, please go to www.amnestyusa.org.
Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization.
(212) 807-8400LATEST NEWS
Asked If He Must Uphold the US Constitution, Trump Says: 'I Don't Know'
"I'm not a lawyer," the president said in a newly aired interview.
May 04, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump refused in an interview released Sunday to affirm that the nation's Constitution affords due process to citizens and noncitizens alike and that he, as president, must uphold that fundamental right.
"I don't know, I'm not a lawyer," Trump told NBC's Kristen Welker, who asked if the president agrees with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement that everyone on U.S. soil is entitled to due process.
When Welker pointed to the Fifth Amendment—which states that "no person shall be... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law"—Trump again replied that he's unsure and suggested granting due process to the undocumented immigrants he wants to deport would be too burdensome.
"We'd have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials," Trump said, echoing a sentiment that his vice president expressed last month.
Asked whether he needs to "uphold the Constitution of the United States as president," Trump replied, "I don't know."
Watch:
WELKER: The 5th Amendment says everyone deserves due process
TRUMP: It might say that, but if you're talking about that, then we'd have to have a million or two million or three million trials pic.twitter.com/FMZQ7O9mTP
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 4, 2025
Trump, who similarly deferred to "the lawyers" when asked recently about his refusal to bring home wrongly deported Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, has unlawfully cited the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly remove undocumented immigrants from the U.S. without due process. Federal agents have also arrested and detained students, academics, and a current and former judge in recent weeks, heightening alarm over the administration's authoritarian tactics.
CNNreported Friday that the administration has "been examining whether it can label some suspected cartel and gang members inside the U.S. as 'enemy combatants' as a possible way to detain them more easily and limit their ability to challenge their imprisonment."
"Trump has expressed extreme frustration with federal courts halting many of those migrants' deportations, amid legal challenges questioning whether they were being afforded due process," the outlet added. "By labeling the migrants as enemy combatants, they would have fewer rights, the thinking goes."
Some top administration officials have publicly expressed disdain for the constitutional right to due process. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, wrote in a social media post last month that "the judicial process is for Americans" and "immediate deportation" is for undocumented immigrants.
The New Republic's Greg Sargent wrote in a column Saturday that "Miller appears to want Trump to have the power to declare undocumented immigrants to be terrorists and gang members by fiat; to have the power to absurdly decree them members of a hostile nation's invading army, again by fiat; and then to have quasi-unlimited power to remove them, unconstrained by any court."
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The suggestion by Tom Homan, a leader of President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign, that Evers could be arrested for issuing such guidance undermines "the foundational principles of our democracy, including the separation of powers, the rule of law, and the right of state governments to operate without undue federal interference," the groups said Saturday.
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The threats against Gov. Evers in Wisconsin undermine the foundational principles of our democracy: the separation of powers, the rule of law, and the right of state governments to operate without undue federal interference. We must reject this overreach. allvotingislocal.org/statements/w...
[image or embed]
— All Voting is Local (@allvotingislocal.bsky.social) May 3, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Trump administration officials and the president himself have repeatedly threatened state and local officials as the White House rushes ahead with its lawless mass deportation campaign, which has ensnared tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants and at least over a dozen U.S. citizens—including children.
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