Spanish language version: Detención Migratoria y Alternativas en las Américas

This study is based on information presented before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in a thematic hearing on immigration detention and alternatives to detention in the Americas. In addition to increasing visibility of the issue, the hearing was presented with the objective of promoting national and regional processes to discuss, document, advocate for and develop proposals to ensure the right to personal liberty in the migration context.

The study is the result of numerous efforts to collect and compare information on policy and practice related to immigration detention and alternatives to detention in 21 countries in the Americas region: Argentina, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States. Although data collection and analysis are by no means exhaustive, the study does identify the main patterns of human rights violations related to the use of immigration detention, and also highlights key policy and practice that represent positive components of alternatives to detention