Detention Conditions in Border Patrol Facilities

Detention Conditions in Border Patrol Facilities


Jane Doe #1, et al. v. Chad Wolf, et al.
(formerly Jane Doe #1, et al. v. Jeh Johnson, et al.)


Briefs, Memos, and Orders Filed with/Issued by the Federal District Court for the District of Arizona (from latest to earliest):

  • Order for Permanent Injunction (4/17/20, PDF). “U.S. Customs and Border Protection … shall be permanently enjoined from holding Processing Complete Detainees whose Time In Detention in Tucson Sector CBP facilities is longer than 48 hours, unless CBP provides conditions of confinement to meet Detainees’ basic human needs, pursuant to Detention-industry Standards for the following …”
  • Judgment (2/19/20, PDF). “IT IS ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that pursuant to the Court’s Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law filed February 19, 2020, judgment is entered in favor of plaintiffs and against defendants.”
  • Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law (2/19/20, PDF). “IT IS ORDERED that the Court finds in favor of Plaintiffs and against Defendants and GRANTS Plaintiff’s request for a permanent injunction. The Clerk of the Court shall enter Judgment for Plaintiffs. [¶]IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that CBP shall be enjoined from holding detainees, who are “processing complete,” as defined herein, “no longer than 48 hours, unless CBP provides conditions of confinement that meet basic human needs for sleeping in a bed with a blanket, a shower, food that meets acceptable dietary standards, potable water, and medical assessments performed by a medical professional.”
  • Order: Preliminary Injunction (11/18/16, PDF). “IT IS ORDERED that the Motion for a Preliminary Injunction … is GRANTED as follows: 1. Clean bedding … 2. Personal hygiene needs … 3. … universal use of … Medical Screening Form …  4.  Defendants shall monitor for compliance the following ….”
  • Brief in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction (8/17/16, PDF). “… Plaintiffs … hereby move for a preliminary injunction (1) enjoining Defendants and their agents and employees from subjecting Plaintiffs to conditions of confinement in Tucson Sector stations that violate Plaintiffs’ Due Process rights by depriving Plaintiffs of sleep, warmth, a safe and sanitary environment, and medical screening and care; and (2) compelling Defendants … to enforce certain minimal standards related to Plaintiffs’ detention.”
  • Declarations in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction (8/17/16, PDFs) — Robert W. Powitz (forensic sanitarian with almost 50 years of experience in corrections) | Joe Goldenson, MD (physician with 28 years of experience as director/medical director for jail health services) | Eldon Vail (former corrections administrator with nearly 35 years of experience working in and administering adult and juvenile institutions)
  • Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (6/8/15, PDF). “Plaintiffs are civil detainees confined in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection … facility within the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol…. During their confinement, Plaintiffs and many others like them—men, women, and children—have been subjected to inhumane and punitive conditions. They have been packed into overcrowded and filthy holding cells with the lights glaring day and night; stripped of outer layers of clothing and forced to suffer in brutally cold temperatures; deprived of beds, bedding, and sleep; denied adequate food, water, medicine and medical care, and basic sanitation and hygiene items such as soap, sufficient toilet paper, sanitary napkins, diapers, and showers; and held incommunicado in these conditions for days. These conditions exist in all of the short-term detention facilities that CBP currently operates and maintains in its Tucson Sector, and thus Plaintiffs and putative class members are harmed no matter where they are detained within the Sector. Plaintiffs bring this action challenging these harsh and degrading conditions in Tucson Sector CBP facilities on behalf of themselves and all those similarly situated.”

MORE INFORMATION

Notice of Class Action Litigation

NILC Issue Brief

Images of Deplorable Detention Conditions (released in Aug. 2016)

From the American Immigration Council


STATEMENTS FROM PEOPLE WHO WERE DETAINED

Excerpts from statements by people who were formerly detained by the Border Patrol in Tucson Sector holding cells. The statements describe horrific conditions.