Mission

Honor the dignity of every human being
Through writing and visiting those being detained in immigration detention centers in Florence and Eloy, Arizona, we seek to nurture compassion and foster human connection.
Serve as active witnesses
Through being a peaceful presence in the midst of detention facilities and the town of Florence we seek to listen to and validate the experiences of those in detention.
Raise consciousness
Through face-to-face, personal interaction, outreach, and education we seek to reveal the realities of the U.S. immigration and detention systems and the toll on our collective humanity.
Create sanctuary
Through presence and hospitality, we seek to create spiritual and physical sanctuary for those being detained and once they are released.
Build a network of mutual support
Through the inherent and considerable gifts and resources of those who have been detained and community allies, we seek to foster a sustainable lifeline of hope, solidarity, and tangible support.
 Dec. 2010


We share in the core values of Detention Watch Network

Detention Watch Network Core Values
and Principles

What do We Believe?
The United States is a nation of immigrants and refugees, built on the strengths of diverse peoples, cultures, and beliefs, and sustained by the enduring values of fairness, equality, and individual rights. We seek to honor this history and these values.
  • We seek fair and humane immigration laws and procedures that reflect international norms of human rights.

  • We seek the consistent enforcement of these laws in ways that respect and value immigrants and immigrant communities.

  • We stand in solidarity with immigrants in detention and we fight for their fair, dignified, respectful treatment as individuals with unique histories and desires.

  • We seek to disentangle immigrants and refugees from the paradigm of national security and the framework of criminal justice.

  • We believe the US should seek alternatives to using detention so that immigrants are only held in detention facilities as a last resort and that prison facilities and jails should never be used for this purpose.

  • We are also concerned that the conditions of detention be humane and respectful not punitive. We believe that people in detention have a right to access to legal, social, health, spiritual, and other supportive services.
DWN members are essential participants in legislative and administrative advocacy efforts which seek the following:

  • No mandatory detention of immigrants and an overall reduction in the use of detention;

  • Case-by-case determinations regarding the decision to detain based on an individual’s character and circumstances, with meaningful review mechanisms;

  • Fair release policies would be maintained through parole and bond;

  • Any detention that does occur will be for the least amount of time and in the least restrictive setting possible;

  • A sensible enforcement policy and meaningful review procedures that ensure targeted and calibrated enforcement of our immigration laws that is measured by performance standards;

  • Separate housing for immigrants being held in detention and the general prison population;

  • Viable, federally funded, community-based alternatives to detention;

  • Enforceable detention standards that are applied uniformly and other binding administrative requirements that mandate that people in detention have more humane conditions and treatment, including access to legal, social, spiritual, health care and other vital services;

  • The independent, high-level oversight of detention conditions and standards by a civilian task force;

  • Continued expansion of federally funded legal assistance;

  • Access to supportive programs and services.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)