Following N&O report, faith leaders ask Congress to help NC immigrants in detention
The North Carolina Council of Churches, a faith-based advocacy group, issued a letter Tuesday to state congressional members to ask the Department of Homeland Security to investigate the treatment of detained immigrants inside the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia.
The letter cites The News & Observer’s Monday story on the experiences of detainees from North Carolina at the Stewart immigration detention facility and The Intercept’s investigation on the use of force against detainees who protested conditions there.
The letter from the Council of Churches, signed by 40 clergy members, was issued on behalf of at least 13 North Carolina families who have family members detained in Stewart.
The N&O reported that detainees complained of not being safe from coronavirus in the detention ceter.
The letter also asks Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the private company CoreCivic that operates the detention center to publish weekly updates on its actions concerning detainees.
The requested information from ICE and CoreCivic includes a current detainee census for Stewart and how many detainees are medically vulnerable, measures to protect detainees from infection and a report on how many detainees enter and leave the facility.
According to ICE, 16 detainees and two ICE staff have tested positive so far for the coronavirus. Court filings from a Southern Poverty Law Center lawsuit revealed there were at least 30 presumptive positive detainee cases in April.
“The situation at Stewart is particularly disturbing because of the lack of respect shown to those who are detained by those charged with keeping them safe,” said Rev. Jay Kennett of Hillsborough United Church of Christ in a press release. “The biblical call to love our neighbors does not exclude those we see as different, it is a call to treat others as ourselves. The conditions at Stewart are inhumane and unjust. As a person of faith I am compelled to call for these abuses to stop and immigration officials be made accountable. Our congressional delegation can provide that much needed oversight and the time to act is now.”
The Christian humanitarian organization World Relief Durham also issued a letter on May 14 to ICE’s Atlanta field office director requesting for the release of all non-violent detainees into “alternative to detention” programs like bond, parole and electronic monitoring.
“Many of the immigrants detained in these facilities are mothers, fathers, and children of our community members in North Carolina,” said Kjerstin Lewis of World Relief Durham’s Immigration Legal Services Center in a press release. “We’re calling on ICE’s leadership to make the decision to save lives during this pandemic, protecting vulnerable individuals who pose no risk to public safety during this health crisis.”
The letter says 64% of ICE detainees in 2019 had no previous criminal conviction, according to Syracuse University’s immigration data research center.
World Relief Durham cites The Intercept’s report, which says pepper spray, rubber bullets and tear gas were used on two occasions in April by a protest response team.
“We need to understand the agency’s response to the virus and the extent of the danger posed to North Carolinians detained there,” said Kelly Morales of Siembra NC, an immigration advocacy group that maintains communication with NC families with loved ones in detention.
COVID-19 has spread quickly through ICE detention centers across the country with more than 800 known cases. The first detainee to die of the disease was in an ICE detention center in California, several media organizations reported last week.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Following N&O report, faith leaders ask Congress to help NC immigrants in detention."
