Detained father consoles daughter through
the glass at a detention facility. Detention
causes suffering for separated families.

The Department of Homeland Security reported in 2003 that asylum-seekers who were eventually granted asylum spent an average of 10 months and sometimes as long as three and one half years in detention.

For the vulnerable, such as torture survivors, families with small children and the seriously ill, prolonged detention can have serious consequences. These detainees suffer severely from the lack of adequate medical care or access to psychological and pastoral counseling, and fear of physical mistreatment, harassment and abuse. The lack of privacy, freedom of movement, communication and spiritual expression cause already vulnerable people lasting psychological harm.

A recent Congressional briefing documented the alarming extent to which detainees are denied access to proper medical attention. Too often, the number of medical personnel available is inadequate. Detainee requests to see a doctor are often ignored. In addition, federal permission must be obtained before certain procedures can be performed, delaying life-saving care.

"One man my husband mentioned suffered needlessly from lack of medical care. The gentleman had congestive heart disease and a psychological disorder and should have been in a hospital. Instead his health rapidly deteriorated in the detention center as he was deprived of his medication." — Nancy

Family Separation, Financial Hardship and Despair

"I ask that the Lord forgive me for being so far away from my kids." — Dolores, a detainee

The recent rise in immigration raids calls attention to the fact that many long-term U.S. residents are being wrenched from their homes and placed in detention centers hundreds, even thousands of miles away from their families. Many of these people are law-abiding, contributing members of our society, guilty of no more than a minor civil infraction.

"I worry I will never feel the same about my country for doing this to our family. I am a veteran of our armed services, and at the time I proudly served for six and a half years. I now feel totally different about the United States and what our government is capable of, since armed federal agents entered my home at gunpoint, handcuffed my husband and detained him." — Nancy

JRS/USA operates chaplaincy programs
to provide spiritual support to detainees
of all faiths in federal detention centers.
Detainees in non-federal centers
are not so fortunate.

With loved ones incarcerated far from home, and with no way of knowing how long their detention will last, detainees' families suffer emotional trauma.

"My husband was detained for 38 days and moved to a location approximately 18 hours round trip from our home. I was only able to visit him two times due to my work schedule. When my husband was moved from one facility to another, I did not have contact or know where he was for four days. I deserve better from my country." — Nancy

This sense of helplessness deepens when relocation makes it impossible to obtain legal assistance.

"They moved him to remote locations that are way beyond the reach of immigration attorneys—you can't get a lawyer to drive from St. Louis to one of these little towns way out. I can't do this alone anymore. I'm tired, I've gone a year without sleep; I need support." — Sondra

Additionally, families of the detained often experience great financial hardship. Spouses are forced to take multiple jobs or to depend on extended family for support, all while pursuing the costly and exhausting process of mounting a legal defense. Wives, husbands and children of detainees all suffer from their breadwinner's absence.