Detention Watch Network (DWN)

History

The Detention Watch Network (DWN) was founded in 1997 by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, and the Lutherans Immigration and Refugee Service “to combat the explosive growth of the U.S. immigration detention system.” According to DWN’s website, the organization was re-launched in 2005 as a dues-based network of advocacy groups. ²

Policy Positions

The Detention Watch Network (DWN) supports left-wing criminal justice and immigration policies. DWN opposes immigration detention and advocates those arrested should be freed while their immigration status is determined by authorities. DWN opposes family detention, “shadow prisons” (de facto detention centers that operate under different official categories), and supports stronger oversight and regulations of existing detention centers. ¹

DWN supported releasing all detained immigrants during the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. ³

According to DWN, immigration detention became an official policy in the United States in the 1980s after an influx of Cuban and Haitian refugees. Immigrant detention then expanded in the 1990s under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act and the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, both of which were intended to reduce immigrant-related crimes. Immigrant detention further expanded in the 2000s under President Barack Obama, particularly family detention. The Trump administration further pushed these efforts with a dramatic increase in funding for local law enforcement, and the Biden administration has since continued these policies. ⁴

Activities

The Detention Watch Network (DWN) runs the Communities not Cages program to oppose immigrant detainment centers. In 2022, DWN targeted ten facilities, three of which were shut down by the Biden administration. ⁵

DWN co-leads the Defund Hate campaign with dozens of other organizations to encourage the defunding of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). From 2017 to 2022, DWN claimed to help block $15 billion in funding for both organizations. ⁵

DWN provides guidance for how to request a tour of immigrant detention facilities for the purpose of information gathering and engaging in activism. ⁶

In November 2024, DWN organized a letter sent to President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, signed by roughly 193 immigration activist organizations, that advocated for the Biden Administration to “close [immigration] detention facilities,” “halt all detention expansion efforts,” and, “release people from detention.” ⁷ The letter further alleges the Administration must, “…take all possible action to prevent the incoming administration from being able to easily expand detention capacity, including by pressuring Congress to pass a reduced appropriation for immigration detention.”⁷

In 2026, DWN was listed as an endorsing partner of the Socialism 2026 Conference, a four day event in Chicago that holds discussions and workshops on Marxism, labor organizing, social movements, decolonization, abolition, working-class history, and other left-of-center political issues. ⁸

Members

As of July 2024, the Detention Watch Network (DWN) has dozens of individual members and 106 member organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International USA, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Freedom for Immigrants, the National Immigration Law Center, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Bronx Defenders, Make the Road New York, and the Immigrant Action Alliance. ⁹

In 2022, DWN expanded by 34 members, including 13 organizations. ⁵

Membership dues range from $150 to $2,800 annually depending on the member organization’s budget. ¹⁰

Leadership

Silky Shah is the executive director and a board member of the Detention Watch Network (DWN). She has worked at the group since 2009 and has led it since 2017. Shah previously was a board member of Grassroots Leadership and as an outreach organizer at Democracy Now! ¹¹

Aimee Nichols is the managing director of DWN. She previously worked for the Center for Community Change, the Nevada State Democratic Party, and the Alliance for Citizenship. ¹²

Victoria Lopez is the board president of DWN. She is the advocacy and legal director at the ACLU of Arizona and previously worked with the ACLU National Prison Project and the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. ^{13 14}

Danielle Alvarado is the vice president of DWN. She is the executive director of the Fair Work Center, an advocacy group that supports more labor regulations. Previously, she worked for the Urban Justice Center, the Central American Refugee Center, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice. ^{14 15}

Funding

In 2022, the Detention Watch Network (DWN) generated $2.6 million in revenue, of which 86 percent came from foundation grants and 4 percent came from membership dues. ⁵

DWN has received grant funding from Borealis Philanthropy, the Ford Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, M&T Bank, Oxfam, the band Rage Against the Machine, the Oak Foundation, and the Four Freedoms Fund. ⁵