Increased ICE Transfers Impede Detainees' Access to Lawyers, Contact With Family

"Several of the men said that they didn't have bathroom access on the plane - or even seats. They flew shackled in the cargo area of the plane. They'd been transferred from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, to the Anchorage Correctional Complex, a facility run by the state Department of Corrections."

"Transfers of people in ICE custody between facilities are becoming more and more common under the Trump administration. According to an ICE Flight Monitor report from Human Rights First, transfer flights from January through August increased 43% compared with the same time period last year. "These frequent transfers not only disorient individuals but also make it significantly harder for them to access legal counsel and maintain contact with family," the report says."

"Luis Peralta, who was transferred from Miami to Tacoma, told Capital & Main that officers did not allow him to bring his personal documents with him when they moved him. That meant that he didn't have access to any phone numbers for family members - his mother's had been written on a piece of paper in his belongings at the Miami facility."

Several dozen people in ICE custody landed in Alaska in early June after a transfer flight. Several men reported no bathroom access or seats and said they were shackled in the plane's cargo area. The detainees were moved from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma to the Anchorage Correctional Complex, run by the state Department of Corrections. Transfer flights increased 43% from January through August compared with the previous year, per an ICE Flight Monitor report from Human Rights First. Frequent transfers disorient individuals and make access to attorneys and family contact significantly harder. Officers sometimes prevented detainees from bringing personal documents, cutting off phone numbers and attorney access.

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