Sierra Club, Southern Border Communities Coalition y ACLU llegan a una conciliación con el gobierno de EE. UU. en el caso del muro de la frontera que desafía la transferencia ilegal de fondos de construcción militares
Como parte de la conciliación de Sierra Club contra Biden (antiguamente Sierra Club contra Trump), el gobierno de EE. UU. ha acordado detener la construcción del muro y mitigar los daños medioambientales en los sitios ilegalmente financiados por el gobierno de Trump usando fondos robados del Departamento de Defensa.
OAKLAND, California — En virtud de una conciliación legal presentada hoy en el tribunal federal, Sierra Club y Southern Border Communities Coalition, representadas por la American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Sierra Club, ACLU de Texas y ACLU del Norte de California han conciliado con éxito dos pleitos judiciales de larga duración que desafían la transferencia ilegal de fondos de construcción militares y fondos decomisados del Departamento del Tesoro durante el gobierno de Trump para construir secciones del muro en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México que el Congreso se negó explícitamente a financiar.
El acuerdo de conciliación de 49 páginas, que también concilia casos relacionados presentados por California, Nuevo México y varios otros estados demandantes, incluye medidas críticas para ayudar a mitigar los extensos daños causados por la construcción ilegal del muro en la frontera.
“La construcción del muro de la frontera de Trump, llevada a cabo contra la voluntad del Congreso y considerada ilícita por los tribunales federales, dañó catastróficamente los recursos naturales y las comunidades en la región de la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México”, dijo Cecillia Wang, subdirectora legal de ACLU y abogada en jefe de los casos de Sierra Club contra Biden. “Este acuerdo de conciliación establece un cierta responsabilidad y debe servir como un recordatorio duradero de que las políticas gubernamentales impulsadas por la siembra del miedo en lugar de la creación de buenas políticas terminan dañando nuestros intereses nacionales”.
Las disposiciones principales de la conciliación son un compromiso del Departamento de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza (CBP) de EE. UU. de detener la construcción del muro en las áreas afectadas por las transferencias de fondos ilegales de Trump para mitigar los daños a las comunidades y a la vida silvestre causados por la construcción y proteger las especies animales en peligro de extinción y amenazadas que fueron dañadas por la construcción de este muro en la frontera. Las actividades de mitigación incluyen el compromiso del CBP de llevar a cabo actividades formales de planificación medioambiental y consulta comunitaria antes de seguir trabajando en las secciones del muro afectadas, tales como la instalación de iluminación de estadio que causa la destrucción de especies de vida silvestre y arruina la posibilidad de que la gente disfrute de las áreas silvestres. También se han reservado fondos para proyectos dedicados a controlar y mitigar los daños existentes a la vida silvestre, incluyendo las especies amenazadas y en peligro de extinción que sufrieron la destrucción o modificación de su hábitat.
“Cuando el ex presidente no pudo lograr lo que quería, hizo caso omiso del Congreso y usó ilegalmente otros fondos destinados a apoyar a los miembros de las fuerzas armadas para construir su muro en la frontera. Entre los daños a las tierras tribales y los hábitats degradados para la vida silvestre, las comunidades en la frontera se verán afectadas por las consecuencias de este despilfarro por muchos años venideros”, dijo Erick Meza, coordinador de tierras de frontera de Sierra Club. “El programa de tierras de frontera de Sierra Club ha estado trabajando por más de una década para proteger estos territorios frágiles, y nos alegra ver que esta conciliación no solo detiene el trabajo en este proyecto destructivo sino que ayuda a restaurar el área. Las reparaciones incluidas en la conciliación de hoy serán importantes para sanar las comunidades, los paisajes y los ecosistemas afectados por los actos imprudentes del gobierno anterior”.
Cuando el Congreso se negó a darle a Trump billones de dólares adicionales para construir muros entre nuestras comunidades, él declaró temerariamente una emergencia nacional en la frontera y de todos modos saqueó los fondos del Departamento de Defensa.
“Esta conciliación no solo tiene que ver con lograr que el gobierno de EE. UU. rinda cuentas por sus abusos de poder sino también ratificar que los derechos humanos de todos los residentes de la frontera son iguales ante la ley”, dijo Ricky Garza, abogado de políticas de frontera de la Southern Border Communities Coalition. “Aunque nada puede deshacer el daño permanente causado por los años de la construcción del muro en la región sudoeste, esta conciliación es un paso importante hacia la reparación que incluye un requisito de consulta y evaluación de impactos medioambientales, una medida que puede abrirle la puerta a la eliminación de las exenciones amplias otorgadas al Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) que han convertido a las comunidades de la frontera en zonas de sacrificio durante décadas. El comprometerse a consultar debidamente con nuestras comunidades es un paso importante hacia adelante del gobierno de EE. UU. para gobernar mejor. Sin embargo, esta lucha no se ha acabado y al gobierno todavía le falta bastante para reconocer la humanidad y dignidad de todos los residentes de la frontera y proporcionarnos el respeto que merecemos”.
La construcción del muro ilegal de Trump, que continuó bajo órdenes del tribunal supremo a pesar de las órdenes de múltiples tribunales menores que bloquearon la construcción durante este litigio, ha causado daños medioambientales y ecológicos devastadores a la región de la frontera sur. Hay sectores del muro que atraviesan una, , y , además de otros lugares importantes que albergan.
A pasar de que el Congreso rechazó las solicitudes de fondos para el muro de frontera hechas por el ex presidente, para construir su muro, Trump impuso su autoridad declarando una situación de emergencia en 2019 y 2020 para desviar billones de dólares que el Congreso había otorgado al Departamento de Defensa y al Departamento del Tesoro de EE. UU. para otros propósitos. La ACLU presentó una demanda en nombre de Sierra Club y Southern Border Communities Coalition días después de la primera alegación falsa de poderes de “emergencia” en 2019 y presentó una demanda separada para oponerse a su segunda declaración en 2020.
El 20 de enero de 2021, en su primer día como Presidente, Biden interrumpió la declaración de emergencia nacional de Trump. Estos casos, que habían llegado al tribunal supremo, fueron quitados del calendario de casos del tribunal más alto y fueron devueltos a los tribunales menores.
Learn More About the Issues in This Press Release
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
Immigrants' Rights
ACLU FOIA Litigation Reveals ICE Actively Considering Proposals to Expand Immigration Detention NationwideACLU FOIA Litigation Reveals ICE Actively Considering Proposals to Expand Immigration Detention Nationwide
NEW YORK – New documents obtained by the ACLU reveal that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is actively considering proposals to expand its immigration detention capacity in at least six states across the country, including in California, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington state. The records, obtained as a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the ACLU in September 2024, disclose that private prison corporations, as well as other corporate entities that provide services to build temporary facilities, monitor compliance, and staff facilities submitted proposals for expanded immigration detention in response to ICE’s contract requests. The discovery comes just weeks after the ACLU received its first tranche of FOIA documents revealing that ICE is considering expanding detention in three different facilities in New Jersey. “You cannot have mass deportations without a significant expansion of ICE detention capacity in states across the country and that’s exactly what the incoming Trump administration is preparing to do,” said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “Rather than permanently shutting down abusive detention facilities, the Biden administration is paving the way for President-elect Donald Trump to make good on his cruel and inhumane mass deportation proposals.” The FOIA documents reveal that GEO Group, Inc., CoreCivic, and the Management & Training Corporation (MTC) submitted contract proposals to Requests for Information (RFI) to expand detention capacity and facilities, several of which have a lengthy history of abusive conditions. The proposals for expanded immigration detention facilities include: Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth, KS – formerly known as Leavenworth Detention Center – which has a track record of abusive conditions, which led the federal government to end its contract with the facility in 2021. South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, TX – a facility where children as young as 19 months have died as a result poor medical care. Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump, NV – which has been subject to a federal invesitgation for medical negligence, racial discrimination, and verbal abuse of detained people. Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, NM — which has been the site of numerous deaths in recent years, with incidents of neglect, abuse, and lack of medical care. Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, NM – which Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General cited in 2022 due to poor conditions. California City Correctional Center in California City, CA – which was previously used as a California Department of Corrections prison until March 2024. ICE also withheld a number of documents in its FOIA disclosure, obscuring the names of the specific facilities. However, the documents produced indicate that the following detention facilities are likely under consideration by ICE: Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs, NM (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the El Paso Field Office) Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, WA (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the Seattle Field Office) Golden State Annex in McFarland, CA (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the San Francisco Field Office) Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield, CA (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the San Francisco Field Office) MTC facility in South Texas, which may include the Willacy County Jail in Raymondville, TX (Proposal by MTC for the Harlingen Field Office) GEO Group, Inc. facility in IL, IN, WI, MI, KT, or KS (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for Chicago Field Office) GEO Group, Inc. facility in South Texas, which may include the Brooks County Detention Center, Falfurrias, TX; Coastal Bend Detention Center, Robstown, TX; or the East Hidalgo Detention Center in LaVilla, TX (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. For the Harlingen Field Office) Other corporate entities, including Kastel Enterprises, LLC., and Active Deployment Systems, which provide services to build temporary facilities, and Sabot Consulting, which provides compliance monitoring and detention staffing services, also submitted responses to ICE’s request. As the ACLU has previously documented, the federal government’s immigration detention system overwhelmingly relies on private prison corporations. Private prison corporations, like the GEO Group, CoreCivic, LaSalle Corrections, and the Management & Training Corporation have pocketed billions from ICE detention contracts over the past two decades. The FOIA records are available here: /documents/multi-state-detention-facility-support-foia-documents-request-for-information -
News & CommentaryDec 2024
Immigrants' Rights
Trump’s Remarks on Birthright Citizenship, ExplainedTrump’s Remarks on Birthright Citizenship, Explained
The president-elect has said he intends to end birthright citizenship. We break down why that’s clearly unconstitutional. -
Press ReleaseDec 2024
National Security
Immigrants' Rights
Federal Judge Rejects Acquitted Man’s Argument That His Immigration Detention Is UnlawfulFederal Judge Rejects Acquitted Man’s Argument That His Immigration Detention Is Unlawful
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — This week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that the court does not have jurisdiction to decide whether the government can continue to detain Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian national who was brought to the United States against his will for prosecution and was cleared of all charges last year. The ruling means the United States will be able to continue to detain Mr. Trabelsi while it attempts to deport him to Tunisia, where he was born and where, as an immigration judge ruled earlier this year, he will likely face torture. The court also concluded that even if it did have jurisdiction over Mr. Trabelsi’s case, his claims challenging the government’s detention of him would fail. “Reviewing claims that the government is holding someone unlawfully is at the core of the judicial function, and we’re heartbroken for our client that the court got this so wrong,” said Brett Max Kaufman, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Center for Democracy. “The government’s arguments in defense of Mr. Trabelsi’s detention makes a hash of the Constitution, immigration laws, and its own extradition treaty.” In 2013, the United States forcibly extradited Mr. Trabelsi from Belgium to face criminal charges in the United States. In July 2023, after almost 10 years of highly restrictive pretrial detention, a federal jury cleared Mr. Trabelsi of all charges. But instead of releasing Mr. Trabelsi or returning him to Belgium, the U.S. transferred him to immigration detention, wrongly treating him as an applicant for admission and placing him in the deportation process. Over the years, the Belgian government has issued multiple formal diplomatic requests asking the U.S. to facilitate his return, but the U.S. has refused to send him back. Mr. Trabelsi filed a lawsuit challenging the government's authority to detain him. He also sought immediate improvements to his detention conditions. Those claims were not part of the court’s ruling today, and will continue to be litigated on a separate track. “Mr. Trabelsi only wants to return to Belgium after being illegally extradited to the United States, held for ten years, and then acquitted by a jury of any crimes,” said Nicole Hallett, clinical professor of law and director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. “He cannot be held indefinitely and we will continue to fight to make sure that justice ultimately prevails.” Mr. Trabelsi is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the University of Chicago Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, the ACLU of Virginia, and Professor Jonathan Hafetz of Seton Hall Law School. The complaint in Trabelsi v. Crawford was filed against Jeffrey Crawford, warden of the Farmville Detention Center where Mr. Trabelsi is being held; Liana Castano, ICE field office director for the Washington Field Office; Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; and Merrick Garland, U.S. attorney general. -
Press ReleaseNov 2024
Immigrants' Rights
ACLU FOIA Litigation Reveals New Information Regarding ICE’s Plans to Expand Immigration Detention in New JerseyACLU FOIA Litigation Reveals New Information Regarding ICE’s Plans to Expand Immigration Detention in New Jersey
NEW YORK – New documents obtained by the ACLU reveal that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is actively considering proposals to expand its immigration detention capacity across the state of New Jersey. The records, obtained as a result of a FOIA lawsuit filed by the ACLU in September 2024, disclose that ICE capacity could increase by approximately 600 beds in at least two facilities in New Jersey. The discovery comes as President-elect Donald Trump continues to double down on his campaign promise to implement the largest mass deportation and detention program in the nation’s history. For months, the ACLU of New Jersey and advocates have raised concerns with the Biden administration’s plans to expand detention in New Jersey, as well as in potentially sixteen other states identified by ICE. “Instead of closing abusive detention facilities once and for all, the Biden administration is simply paving the way for the incoming Trump administration to conduct mass detention and deportation of immigrant communities nationwide,” said Eunice Cho, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “The Biden administration must instead work to close these facilities now.” These facilities under consideration include the Elizabeth Detention Center, located in Elizabeth, New Jersey and owned and operated by CoreCivic, Inc., and the Albert M. “Bo” Robinson Center (ARC) in Trenton, New Jersey, which was formerly owned by the GEO Group, Inc. Both facilities have significant records of poor conditions. Investigations of conditions at ARC exposed abusive conditions including “robbery, sexual assault, [and] menacing of the weak.” Meanwhile, the Elizabeth Detention Center has also come under fire for consistent medical neglect, cramped and unsanitary living quarters, and abusive treatment from guards. The ACLU obtained these documents as a result of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation, which sought in part records responsive to a contract solicitation for additional ICE detention space in the Newark, New Jersey area. The solicitation, originally issued on June 26, 2024, sought “comprehensive detention services for adult male and female noncitizens” to “provide for general population, intake, segregated housing, and medical beds at a contractor-owned/contractor-operated detention facility or facilities.” The documents provided by ICE provide a limited glimpse of the detention proposals, as the production appears to include only the environmental impact statement portions of the proposals submitted by CoreCivic, Inc. and GEO Group, Inc. to ICE. It is unclear from the documents whether there are additional New Jersey facilities that responded to ICE’s solicitation, or how much it would cost taxpayers. For example, the GEO Group, Inc. claimed in litigation earlier this year that it has readied the Delaney Hall Facility, located in Newark, New Jersey, to conform with ICE operating requirements. “New Jersey has already taken steps to oppose immigrant detention by phasing out ICE contracts and closing county-run ICE jails. But as federal plans to expand detention in New Jersey continue, the need for protections grows by the day. That’s why it’s imperative that the Biden administration immediately halt any efforts to expand this abusive detention machine,” said ACLU-NJ campaign strategist Ami Kachalia. “We also urge the New Jersey Legislature to quickly pass the Immigrant Trust Act so that New Jersey is not complicit in separating families or depriving our residents of due process.” State officials and members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation have opposed the expansion of ICE detention in the state. Earlier this year, eight Representatives and Senator Cory Booker raised concern regarding the development of additional private ICE detention facilities in the state. Prior to that, the New Jersey state legislature passed AB 5207 in 2021, which prohibited state and local entities and private detention facilities from entering, renewing, or expanding immigration detention contracts. Both CoreCivic, Inc., and GEO Group, Inc. filed suit to stop enforcement of the law, which has been enjoined pending appeal. The ACLU of New Jersey filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of 28 community organizations in support of New Jersey's anti-detention law. The FOIA records are available here: /documents/foia-documents-re-nj-ice-detention-rfi