Should ICE Destroy Records About Sexual Assaults, Deaths?
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What’s the story?
In July, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) published a notice stating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was seeking permission to destroy "records related to detainees, including incidents of sexual abuse and assault, escapes, deaths while in agency custody, telephone rates charged to detainees, alternatives to detention, logs and reports on status of detainees and detention facilities, and location and segregation of detainees."
ICE, according to the ACLU, has "proposed various timelines for the destruction of these records ranging from 20 years for sexual assault and death records to three years for reports about solitary confinement."
Why does it matter?
Various news outlets, from various political viewpoints, have reported on the controversies, violations and abuses by ICE officials through the years. As the ACLU wrote, "Many of the records that ICE proposes for destruction offer proof of the mistreatment endured by people in detention."
There have been 10 confirmed deaths in ICE custody for the fiscal year ending on September 30. In addition, according to Homeland Security data reviewed by New York University researchers, 150 people have died in ICE custody between 2003 and 2015.
NARA has provisionally approved ICE’s request. They say that in the cases of sexual assault and death, for example, the records "do not document significant actions of Federal officials."
Furthermore, NARA said that the information contained in the sexual assault files is "is highly sensitive and does not warrant retention."
ICE was founded in 2003, so it could begin destroying records related to death and sexual assault as soon as 2023. Records pertaining to solitary confinement could be destroyed starting in 2020, but depending on how you interpret the language in ICE’s proposal ICE could potentially start destroying these records as early as this year.
The ACLU is urging NARA to rethink its approval. "Keeping these documents available is necessary for the public to understand and fully evaluate the operation of a system that is notorious for inhumane and unconstitutional conditions affecting hundreds of thousands of people every year. Even 20 years is far too short for keeping the record of a death or sexual assault of an individual in government custody."
What do you think?
Is NARA correct in that sexual assault "information is highly sensitive and does not warrant retention"? Or does the ACLU have a point that ICE needs to leave a paper trail and keep its operations in the public eye? Hit the Take Action button, tell your reps, then comment below. We promise not to purge your comments from the public record.
—Josh Herman
(Photo Credit: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
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