Immigration Detention Centers: Implications for Social Work

A Political Action against the Good Immigrant Narrative

“…Current immigration policy and enforcement practices such as border militarization and the creation of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the U.S. have led to the dehumanization, criminalization, and racialization of undocumented immigrants which can be seen in the number of children and families incarcerated in detention center (Rosenblum 2015). Illegality (Furman et al 2015) encompasses the historical, social, and political "produced condition of immigrants' legal status" as criminal (Abrego 2016, p. 6). The concept of legal immigration for the good model-minority immigrants inevitably brings forth illegality as a construct and process that controls who is eligible and welcomed to enter and remain in the U.S. as well as who is blamed, criminalized, and punished.…”

“…The concept of legal immigration for the good model-minority immigrants inevitably brings forth illegality as a construct and process that controls who is eligible and welcomed to enter and remain in the U.S. as well as who is blamed, criminalized, and punished. Thus, the concept of legality and illegality (Furman et al 2015), may indeed set-up forms of structural oppression that ultimately marginalize and criminalize undocumented individuals in the U.S. The uncertainty communities that have an undocumented legal status experience related to the future of their lives in the U.S. because they may not fit eligibility requirements for programs such as DACA that quantify deservingness or perhaps amnesties that are obsolete or have historically only existed in waves is as present for DACA beneficiaries as it is for their families and community members who were left out (Zong et al 2017).…”

“…This is a form of continued violence, exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, and cultural imperialism against families and groups that operate from a collective approach and rely on community as a part of their survival (Heldke and O'Connor 2004). It is therefore that illegality, including the model immigrant-minority rhetoric as it is reflected in the DREAMer narrative (Furman et al 2015) needs to be addressed as a risk factor impacting the overall wellbeing of individuals and communities (Chomsky 2014).…”

“…Donald Trump and his administration have used fear as a violent tactic by threatening to terminate programs such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary Permanent Status (TPS), militarizing the U.S. and Mexico border, denying immigration law services to undocumented individuals in detention centers, and separating children and families at the border and placing them in detention centers (Furman et al 2015). Threats to terminate current pro-immigrant policies, combined with the dangerous xenophobic language, attitude, and actions carried out by Donald Trump and his administration are part of an ethnic cleansing campaign based on white supremacy ideals clearly exemplified in his famous "Make America Great, Again" slogan (Engelhardt 2016).…”

Mitigating the Violence of Mass Immigration Detention Through Community-Based Case Management

“…Beyond this call to action, additional care must be taken to ensure that the voices of those directly impacted by the policies in question are preserved in the pursuit of reform. That said, social work's professional values may directly conflict with federal immigration detention policy and practices, juxtaposing social workers between the law and their professional and ethical commitments to social justice (Furman, Ackerman et al, 2015). Historically, the field of social work has had a mixed relationship with the carceral state, at times contributing to its proliferation while simultaneously advocating for its reform (Toraif & Mueller, 2023).…”