Detention Watch Network

09/30/2026

30 years ago, Congress passed and , two laws that helped build today’s mass detention and deportation system.

The horrors we’re witnessing today didn’t come out of nowhere. We cannot fix the harms of today without dismantling the very framework that got us here.

Clinton’s ‘96 laws provided the legal foundation for mass detention, rapid deportations, and the evasion of due process.

09/29/2026

Join us! Detention Watch Network is looking for a Senior Organizer or Organizing Manager that will help build the power of the Network and our members by providing key support to the development and implementation of campaign strategies and growing DWN’s capacity to support local, regional and national efforts challenging detention. The Senior Organizer or Organizing Manager will work with members and DWN staff to draft and implement statewide, regional and national campaigns; engage in public education and training, outreach and ally-building activities; and coordinate key membership calls and events.

Learn more: https://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/about/jobs-opportunities

09/29/2026

ICYMI: ICE is preparing to open a new child & family detention center in Louisiana at the England Airpark adjacent to the Alexandria International Airport, notoriously known as ICE’s busiest mass deportation hub.

✒️Tell Congress to stop this facility before it opens! bit.ly/nofamilydetentionLA

09/24/2026

‼️Keep taking action! ICE is preparing to open a new family and child detention center in Louisiana at the England Airpark adjacent to the Alexandria International Airport, which is already notorious as ICE’s busiest mass deportation hub. Communities across Louisiana and the country strongly oppose the opening - join us to stop it!

Local communities are attending the England Airpark Board meeting to demand the board cancel the contract with ICE for the new family and child detention facility.

➡️Send letters to your elected officials in solidarity!
bit.ly/nofamilydetentionLA

➡️Follow for local updates and to support local organizing efforts

09/23/2026

We are deeply saddened and equally enraged to hear about the death of Carlos Josue Marchena-Marchena, 36 at the hands of ICE.

Mr. Marchena died in ICE custody of alleged medical neglect, following ICE’s failure to provide the proper food and medical care he needed to manage his diabetes. The Winn Correctional Center where Marchena was detained is notorious for its abuse, neglect, and lack of oversight. Marchena is the third person to die in a Louisiana ICE facility since April, an alarming number especially considering ICE is planning to open a new detention center to detain families and children in Alexandria, LA later this month.

Severe medical neglect in ICE facilities continues to increase as ICE detention is expanding under Trump. People in detention deserve proper medical attention and specialist care — not to be caged in a deadly ICE detention center plagued with abuse and medical neglect.

There have been at least 56 deaths in ICE custody since Trump was inaugurated, at least 11 fatal shootings by ICE and CBP under the current Trump administration, several other deaths caused by ICE operations, and an unknown number of deaths of people who were in ICE custody and then died shortly after their release.

We demand: No more abuse and death at the hands of ICE and no more ICE funding while people lose health care, struggle to pay rent and kids go hungry.

09/18/2026

This week, directly impacted people, community organizers, advocates, and policy experts gathered in DC from across the country for the National Day of Advocacy to meet with more than 70 members of Congress and demand they:

➡️Stop detention expansion
➡️Shut down detention centers
➡️Clawback back ICE funding and redirect to community needs
➡️Sign onto Melt ICE and Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act

We demand members of Congress act now! No more abuse and death at the hands of ICE and no more ICE funding while people lose health care, struggle to pay rent, and kids go hungry. Our tax dollars need to be used to strengthen our families and communities, not for the targeting, detention and deportation of our immigrant friends, neighbors and coworkers.

09/09/2026

09/03/2026

The No Homeless Detention Centers Act, introduced by Congressman Frost Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost this week, would prevent the federal government from funding programs that force people experiencing homelessness into shelters, camps or other facilities against their will. It would also ban forced labor in these types of facilities.

Trump is carrying out a cruel and multi-layered immigration detention expansion plan as part of his mass deportation agenda, locking up tens of thousands of people in facilities rife with egregiously poor conditions, medical neglect, and a culture of violence that results in system-wide abuses, including death.

That’s why we are alarmed by the Trump administration’s efforts to criminalize and detain people without homes.

We see this is a clear attempt to vilify homeless people and enrich private prison companies and tech surveillance organizations, just as they have done with our immigrant communities - all while ignoring the real affordability crisis in this country.

THANK YOU Congressman Frost for inducing this bill and thank you Congresswoman Bonamici, Congressman Carter, Congresswoman Jayapal, Congresswoman Ramirez, and Congresswoman Tlaib for backing this bill.

Follow National Homelessness Law Center to learn more.