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Emigration and immigration

Congresswoman Luz Rivas Introduces Immigration Bill to Promote Transparency and Family Notification

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Congresswoman Luz Rivas has introduced the Immigration Notification for Facility Oversight and Relocation Management (INFORM) Act, a bill that requires Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to notify detainees' immediate family when transferred between detention facilities. This move comes after a constituent, Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz, was transferred from the Adelanto Detention Facility to a holding facility in Arizona without family notification, leaving his family in the dark about his whereabouts. Rivas expressed her concern that such actions are part of a larger issue of ICE's chaotic and inconsistent decision-making processes that have torn apart families across the country.

Key Takeaways:

  • The INFORM Act requires ICE to notify detainees' immediate family within 24 hours when they are transferred to another detention center, addressing a gap in current law that only requires notification in the case of death.
  • Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz, a high school senior, was detained while walking his dog in Van Nuys and later transferred to a detention center in Arizona without notification to his family.
  • Congresswoman Rivas has made three oversight visits to detention facilities, and her bill aims to bring transparency to ICE and fight for the rights and dignity of detainees.
  • Without family notification, many immigrant families in the 29th Congressional District of California do not know the whereabouts of their loved ones after they are detained by ICE.
  • Rivas has sent multiple letters to ICE demanding transparency and accountability, but the agency has ignored her inquiries.

Statistics:

  • 24 hours: the timeframe within which ICE must notify a detainee's immediate family when transferred to another detention center under the proposed INFORM Act.
  • 3: the number of oversight visits Congresswoman Rivas has made to detention facilities.
  • 29: the Congressional district of California represented by Congresswoman Luz Rivas.

Sources:

  • Press release for Congresswoman Luz Rivas, August 26
  • Rivas's website, [https://rivas.house.gov](https://rivas.house.gov)

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