WaPo To Run Explosive Series On Immigrant Detention Program

The Washington Post is set to roll out a major investigative series by by prizewinning reporters Dana Priest and Amy Goldstein, this time centering on the hot-button issue of immigration.

The upcoming series will revisit a past topic -- the United State's detention program. But instead of looking at terrorist suspects being sent to Guantanamo Bay, the Post is now exploring the government's detention of undocumented immigrants, presumably by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

According to a source with knowledge of the Post's upcoming articles, Priest and Goldstein's work, which is set to appear in print this upcoming Sunday, will be "stronger" than earlier investigative stories.

The Post has been reporting extensively on the terrorist detention issue since 2002. In 2004, Priest reported that the Defense Department had approved tougher interrogation techniques for use at the Guantanamo Bay prisoners, including sleep deprivation, exposing detainees to heat, cold and "sensory assault," and the use of loud music and bright lights.

The upcoming piece will look at a program that has gone relatively untouched upon by investigative reporters. Immigrant detention has been a major political issue since the 1996 Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. Since then, civil rights groups have protested as immoral the detention of immigrants awaiting their citizenship decisions or deportation. The issue has become increasingly controversial in recent years as the size and scope of the detention program has grown. In February 2006, the New York Times reported that a subsidiary of Halliburton had been awarded a $385 million contract to build "temporary immigration detention centers" in the United States for the Homeland Security Department.

That Priest is tackling the subject is particularly noteworthy in the journalism world. Her work exposing the both the government's rendition program and the poor conditions at Walter Reed medical center has been critically acclaimed and award-winning.

Comments

[loki]

I like how they play with the words . Its Illegal Immigrants who are being detained. Not immigrants.
There is a HUGE difference. Now as to their treatment, I think it is wrong. But as for being detained and even deported, I see no problem with punishing someone for performing an ILLEGAL action. I know many people who spend thousands and waited years to get into this country legally so they could have a chance at a job or a better way of life. Why should we look the other way when someone does it illegally, when millions prove you can do it legally. And we do have laws.

[NABNYC]

Detention should be extremely brief -- 72 hours at most. If someone does not have papers, deport them. If they have papers, ask where they are, send someone to find them. End of story.

Some people object to suspected illegal immigrants being detained. The argument is that people should be given a hearing date, released, allowed to return for their hearing. Yeah, if they're really really stupid, that would work. Otherwise, they will be gone, disappeared into another city, town, state, blending into our work force, driving down wages, working conditions for all Americans.

I just read an interesting report about the fact that the wages for agricultural workers have either been frozen or rolled back for years because of the glut of agricultural workers in this country desperate for jobs, and willing to work for next to nothing. That's right -- a surplus of labor, contrary to the lies of the agri-business that just wants open borders. The poor migrants, the wretched of the earth, the poorest of all, are the most immediately harmed by illegal immigrants.

I hope that someone in the government will stop this insanity, seal the border, deport people who are not here illegally, and have some equitable procedure for long-term residents to apply to stay. The majority of illegal immigrants should be immediately deported. Anyone who's been here a long time should apply for equitable relief, conditioned on learning English, applying for and making progress towards becoming citizens.

[Wiredwilly]

I believe the Pilgrims , Puritans, Quakers , Catholics , Mormons, and thousands of others who landed with the shirt on their back established a precedent that the POINT of America is Liberty and people have unalienable Rights, Rights established by God , nature, and man predating the Magna Carta that mandate anyone who is suffering from repression is Welcome, not because some bureaucrat condescends to give them a Green Card and declares them " legal " but because it is their Natural Right to be Free. Freedom is a Universal , unalienable Right , and not determined by the selective application of principles designed to benefit the ruling class. The people who advocate " deportation " of ' illegal " human beings are the same people who in 1800 thought it perfectly normal for THEM to own Plantations and for OTHERS to be slaves. Freedom is an Unalienable Right . Being here is a RIGHT not a privilege bestowed by elitist.

[MARTYB]

I am against illegal aliens-so what?

[hjo4]

They shouldn't be here ILLEGALLY in first place.I for one am sick and tired of pandering to and coddling these people who chose to enter this country illegally. Arrest, detain and deport that's the law enforce it. I don't believe there will be much sympathy for these criminals.

[sparkandy]

Amen!

[zigzag1]

Until you want the vegetables and fruit they pick, or your diaper changed in the nursing home, or your hotel room cleaned, but then with your money you can afford to pay twice as much.

[zigzag1]

That's exactly what the Native Americans said many years ago!

[clr2]

Don't detain ILLEGAL ALIENS - deport them!

[MJD615]

I agree 150%.

And when they come back "legally" it should be mandatory that they learn to speak English. They cannot assimilate if they don't recognize that English is the FIRST language of the USA.

My "legal" immigrant relatives learned English. Why should they be any different?

[hillaryj]

This will be interesting.............

[OsamaBushLadin]

Sounds perfect bird cage liner. Building these detections is probably the only good thing Haliburton has ever done.

[AnotherTry]

I thought this was a progressive site?!?!?!

The only way the migration of people from the South will stop is when conditions are improved there. As long as there is a pull to the North and a push from the South, people will find their way over, no matter how big, how long or how guarded a border fence is. The focus must shift from the immigrants themselves and domestic policy to a broader view of why so many people flee, and how we can help alleviate conditions in Mexico and Central America to prevent the flow in the first place. Why don't you all consider the following points before casually speaking about "illegal immigration issues":

1) How has US foreign policy placed, or kept, in power oppressive governments which people are forced to flee?'

2) What role have international trade agreements had in creating or exacerbating people's urge to flee their homelands? If capital is going to freely cross borders, shouldn't people and labor be able to do so as well, going where globalization takes the jobs? If you all had the means to live and work in Europe for a few years to bank on the stregnth of the Euro or the Pound wouldn't you?

It's time to stop thinking in short term solutions that only benefit the US and start thinking in solutions that have sustainability and provide benefits to the world.

[rikkirighteous]

Stop making excuses for the corruption of Mexico.

The blame lies with its people and government.