Napolitano: Jailed Illegals Will Get Phone Number to Report Civil Rights Violations

By Penny Starr
October 26, 2011

(CNSNews.com) - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the House Judiciary Committee in written testimony submitted Wednesday that illegal aliens taken into custody by local law enforcement and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be given a phone number to call if they believe their civil rights have been violated.

The phone number will be provided on a form that will include directions on how to file a complaint in six different languages.

Napolitano told the committee that ICE has “updated its detainer form to clarify the longstanding rule that state and local authorities are not to detain an individual for more than 48 hours except for holidays and weekends.

“The new detainer form also requires state and local law enforcement to provide the arrestees with a copy of the form, which includes a number to call if they believe their civil rights have been violated by ICE,” said Napolitano.

“The revised form includes information in six languages on how to file a complaint,” Napolitano said.

During Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) asked Napolitano about the ability of detainees’ to contact legal counsel or family members.

“There’s a new detainer form that we have put into place,” said Napolitano. “It is in English; it’s also available in Spanish; I think other languages as well. It has numbers to call--all sorts of information on it.”