Tag: immigration

Sep 17

2020

Working for $1 a day

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The company that oversees people held at the immigration detention center in Batavia exploits detainees by paying them $1 a day to perform menial labor, according to a lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court.  The lawsuit, filed Sept. 3, stops short of saying the detainees are forced into doing the work, but suggests that there’s an implicit threat of consequences if they refuse. The practice of assigning work to detainees, a longstanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiative known as the “Voluntary Work Program,” violates the state constitution and labor law, the suit contends. The company, Akima Global Services, or AGS,[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 30

2020

Gambini radio interviews on his ICE story

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Phil Gambini’s report Wednesday for Investigative Post documented how ICE mistreats immigrants released from the federal detention center in Batavia. He discussed the story Thursday morning with Jay Moran on WBFO . Gambini was also interviewed by Susan Rose on  NewsRadio 930WBEN. Investigative Post reported that detainees are commonly released from the facility without coordinating with their attorney or family. Instead, they are routinely dropped off at a nearby gas station that doubles as a bus stop. The buses have sometimes come and gone for the day, forcing released detainees to find alternative transportation or wait overnight in the elements[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 28

2020

ICE’s ill treatment of released detainees

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Updated: 8:10 p.m. The Citgo off the Batavia exit of the Thruway is a typical gas station: a convenience store with 10 gas pumps. It doubles as a Greyhound bus stop. It’s also the drop-off point for people just released from the nearby detention center managed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Matt Thompson has seen it happen over and over since he started working at the station four months ago. “The way they treat them, I don’t agree with,” the 20-year Army veteran told Investigative Post. “They drop them off and they treat them like animals. They kick[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 9

2020

Immigrant detainees describe poor conditions

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Updated: 1:10 p.m. It’s called B-2, one of nine units at the detention center run by ICE in Batavia. These days it’s a terrifying place for those held there. Most of the 50 or so men confined there are coughing and displaying other symptoms of COVID-19. The entire unit has been placed in a 14-day quarantine. Six detainees were removed Wednesday, and today a government attorney told a federal court that four of them had tested positive. Four others from B-2 are awaiting test results. Social distancing? Near impossible in detention settings. Soap and hand sanitizer? Running in short supply.[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Mar 25

2020

Lawyers protest dangers at detention center

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 Lawyers defending immigrants in deportation hearings and other legal proceedings in Batavia refused to appear in court Tuesday, saying federal authorities have failed to protect all parties involved from exposure to COVID-19. Attorneys from the Volunteer Lawyers Project and Prisoners Legal Services of New York also  said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has effectively stopped them from representing their clients in court by requiring face masks and other protective equipment that they can’t obtain because of shortages and that ICE won’t provide. The federal immigration court has continued to operate despite a plea last Friday from State[...]

Posted 4 years ago
Investigative Post

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