Immigration

Government Accountability Project has a history of working with immigration whistleblowers. Our former clients include Cathy Harris, a former senior inspector for the U.S. Customs Service (USCS) at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris disclosed that USCS had been practicing discriminatory racial profiling. Harris’ revelations resulted in a landmark GAO study of USCS profiling practices and federal legislation to reform these unconstitutional practices.

Beginning in 2018, Government Accountability Project has been representing government whistleblowers who work within the U.S. immigration system. In the summer of 2018, Drs. Pamela McPherson and Scott Allen blew the whistle on the Trump administration’s child detention practices. Having been hired by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (DHS-CRCL) to serve as subject matter experts, the doctors described the substandard and dangerously lax medical care children were receiving at detention centers. As can be read in their whistleblower profile below, the doctors have written to the U.S. Congress multiple times, spoken to dozens of media outlets, and won several prestigious truth-telling awards, honors from the Ridenhour Prizes and Physicians for Human Rights.

Government Accountability Project also represents Ellen Gallagher, a former policy adviser at CRCL and current employee at DHS’ Office of the Inspector General, who has blown the whistle repeatedly on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) use of solitary confinement on mentally ill and medically vulnerable adults across the 200+ immigration detention facilities in clear violation of federal laws and detention standards.

Government Accountability Project is proud to represent immigration whistleblowers, who help hold our immigration system accountable to the public and to high standards of human rights. If you are an employee or contractor in the U.S. immigration system and are considering blowing the whistle, fill out our intake form here.

Our Related Work

Roll Call: 5 hysterectomies referred by ICE center, DHS tells Congress

5 hysterectomies referred by ICE center, DHS tells Congress This article features our client Dawn Wooten and was originally published here. Immigration and Customs Enforcement referred more detainees for hysterectomies at a Georgia facility than previously disclosed, according to a document acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf submitted to a Senate panel. “It is my current understanding based on ICE data that, since 2017, a total of five individuals at Irwin County Detention Center were [...]

The Intercept: PAULINE BINAM SAYS SHE NEVER GAVE ICE DOCTOR CONSENT TO REMOVE HER FALLOPIAN TUBE

PAULINE BINAM SAYS SHE NEVER GAVE ICE DOCTOR CONSENT TO REMOVE HER FALLOPIAN TUBE This article features Government Accountability Project and our client Dawn Wooten and was originally published here. IN 2018, Pauline Binam, a Cameroonian American woman held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia, was approached by a friend of hers, who told her a horrifying story. The young woman from Mexico had undergone surgery to [...]

Letter to National Archives and Records Administration on CBP Document Destruction Proposal

September 30, 2020 Records Appraisal and Agency Assistance National Archives and Records Administration 8601 Adelphi Road College Park, MD 20740-6001 [email protected] Re: Comments to CBP Document Destruction Proposal (NARA-20-0017-0014; Control Number DAA-0568-2018-0001) Dear National Archives and Records Administration, The undersigned organizations submit the following comments to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in response to the records schedule regarding Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) (Control Number DAA-0568-2018-0001), 85 FR [...]

Press Statement: Statement from Government Accountability Project on ICE’s Enforcement Blitz

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 1, 2020 Statement from Government Accountability Project on ICE’s Enforcement Blitz WASHINGTON—This week the Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is preparing an immigration enforcement blitz in U.S. cities and jurisdictions that have adopted “sanctuary” policies. This action will include U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency officials sending out an increased number of agents into these “sanctuary” cities to arrest immigrants suspected of criminal or immigration law violations. [...]

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