Escalating Abuses by U.S. Government: Refugee Organizations Submit Report to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

The U.S. government has been accused of widespread human rights and refugee law violations by a coalition of 16 immigrants' rights organizations. The organizations, which include Al Otro Lado, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Refugees International, submitted a report to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) documenting the escalating abuses committed by the U.S. government. The report highlights severe human rights violations in the immigration context, including disappearances, arbitrary detention, and deportation of immigrants, including families with children.

Key Takeaways:

• Over 1,000 people reportedly disappeared from a single detention center, causing severe anguish for families and making legal representation impossible.
• At least 16 people have died from January to September 2025 in ICE jails, with reports of delayed or denied medical care leading up to some of the deaths.
• The U.S. government has carried out illegal arrests, detention, deportation, and assaults against immigrants, including families with children, U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylum seekers, and people with Temporary Protected Status.
• Immigrant parents have been separated from their babies, toddlers, and children, with reports of families seeking asylum in the United States forced to choose between being separated from their children or returning to persecution.
• The U.S. government has expelled and deported people to third countries where they face arbitrary imprisonment, torture, return to danger in home countries, and other rights violations.
• Mass violations of due process protections and refugee law resulting from the government's systematic efforts to strip people of the right to an immigration hearing regardless of how long they have lived in the United States.
• The U.S. government has attempted to conceal abuses and block legal access, including reprisals against lawyers, advocates, journalists, and government officials.

Statistics:

• Over 11,000 third-country nationals have been received in Mexico from the U.S. in just nine months.
• At least 16 people have died in ICE jails from January to September 2025.
• Over 1,000 people reportedly disappeared from a single detention center.

Sources:

• Refugees International
• Al Otro Lado
• Americans for Immigrant Justice
• Amnesty International
• Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law
• Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
• Haitian Bridge Alliance
• Hope Border Institute
• Human Rights First
• Immigrant Defenders Law Center
• Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migracion
• International Refugee Assistance Project
• Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center
• RAICES