据美联社最新报道，数千名被美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）拘留的人员实际上已被美国政府“隐匿”。
Thousands of people in ICE custody have been effectively “disappeared” by the U.S. government, according to new reporting by The Associated Press.
那些已收到最终驱逐令的移民被拘留者的姓名，已从“在线被拘留者定位系统”（Online Detainee Locator System）中消失。该数据库原本旨在让家属和律师能够查询被拘留者的下落。
The names of immigrant detainees with final orders of removal have vanished from the Online Detainee Locator System, a database that lets families and lawyers find out where detainees are.
美联社指出，7月份登记进入ICE拘留所的人员中，有近1.6万人面临最终驱逐，占总登记人数的三分之一以上。
Nearly 16,000 people booked into ICE detention in July were subject to final removal, the AP noted — more than one-third of the overall bookings.
这种隐瞒部分被拘留者下落的政策，反映了本届政府移民打击行动的残酷与隐秘。这引发了严重的后勤和法律问题，必须认清其本质：这是对正当程序和宪法权利的侵犯。
This policy of hiding the location of some detainees reflects the cruel and secretive nature of the administration’s immigration crackdown. It raises serious logistical and legal issues, and should be recognized for what it is: an assault on due process and constitutional rights.
需要明确的是，此举并非针对所有被拘留者，仅适用于那些已收到最终驱逐令的人员。最终驱逐令是由移民法官签发，要求非公民离开美国的文件。
To be clear, this move does not apply to all detainees — just those with a final order of removal. A final order of removal is a document issued by an immigration judge that directs a non-citizen to leave the U.S.
然而，收到最终驱逐令的人员仍可能有机会重开案件或提出上诉。一些收到最终驱逐令的人员有资格根据《联合国禁止酷刑公约》寻求人道主义救济，该公约禁止将人员遣返回可能面临迫害或酷刑的国家。许多人收到最终驱逐令是因为无意中错过了出庭日期，或者是因为政府的通知被寄到了错误的地址。
However, persons with final orders of removal may still have options to re-open their cases or file appeals. Some people with final orders are eligible for humanitarian relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which prohibits sending people back to countries where they would face persecution or torture. Many people are issued final orders because they unintentionally missed a court date, or because a government notice was sent to the wrong address.
这就是定位系统至关重要的原因。该系统是被拘留者、其家属及其法律顾问的生命线。家属利用该系统与亲人取得联系；移民律师则利用它来安排与客户的会面，并为案件收集证据。
That’s why the locator system is important. The system is a lifeline for detainees, their families, and their legal counsel. Families use the system to get in touch with their loved ones; immigration attorneys use it to set up meetings with their clients and gather evidence for cases.
仿佛仅仅将人们从在线定位系统中删除还不够，《华盛顿邮报》报道称，移民官员现在还被禁止通过电话向被拘留者的亲属或律师透露其关押地点。这使沟通的责任完全落在了被拘留者身上。然而，对于身处拘留所的人来说，向外拨打电话并非易事。电话费用昂贵，而且常常需要长时间排队，还受到拘留所内部规定的限制。
As if it were not enough to wipe people’s names from the online locator, the Washington Post reports that immigration officials are now barred from revealing the locations of detainees to their relatives or attorneys over the phone. This puts the burden of communication on detainees. Yet it is not easy for people in detention to make phone calls to the outside. Calls are expensive, and often involve long lines and facility restrictions.
让被拘留者能够与外界联系尤其至关重要，因为美国移民和海关执法局（ICE）不断将人们转移到全国各地，甚至还在实施非法驱逐出境行为。
It is especially paramount that detainees are able to make contact, as ICE is constantly transfers people all around the country and even is carrying out illegal deportations.
将人们从在线定位系统中移除本身很可能就是非法的。阻碍被拘留者获得法律援助，则侵犯了他们根据第五修正案所享有的正当程序权利，因为如果律师不知道当事人的关押地点，就无法充分为其辩护。最关键的是，这一举措干扰了人身保护令程序——一项允许所有人向法院挑战其拘留合法性的法律程序。这项机制已写入宪法，并且公民和非公民均可使用。
Removing people from the online locator system itself is likely illegal. Obstructing detainees from access to legal counsel violates their due process rights under the Fifth Amendment, because a lawyer cannot adequately represent their client if they don’t know where they are. Most critically, the move interferes with habeas corpus, a legal process that allows all people to challenge their detention in court. This mechanism is enshrined in the Constitution — and it is available to both citizens and non-citizens.
撇开法律争议不谈，哪个理性的人会认为由政府强制让囚犯“消失”是个好主意呢？这种做法通常与朝鲜和前苏联等威权政权联系在一起。对于那些担心“深层政府”的美国人来说，这项政策似乎正是其现实表现的一个典型例子。
Legal arguments aside, what reasonable person believes that government-enforced disappearances of prisoners is a good idea? This is a concept associated with authoritarian regimes like North Korea and the former Soviet Union. For Americans who worry about “the deep state,” this policy seems like a good example of it in action.
美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）在一份声明中表示，尽管该机构面临法院下达的“史无前例数量的禁令”，导致其无法执行部分驱逐令，但他们仍将优先驱逐那些已收到最终驱逐令的被拘留者。这一回应耐人寻味。截至今年5月，联邦法官在超过2万起涉及ICE的案件中作出了不利于特朗普政府的裁决。然而，如果该机构面临如此多阻碍其行动的法院判决，解决之道绝非让被拘留者的行踪变得难以追踪，而是应当改革其执法实践，以确保符合法律规定。
In a statement, ICE said that detainees with final removal orders were being prioritized for deportation, even though ICE faces a “historic number of injunctions” from courts stopping individual removals. This answer is telling. As of May, federal judges have indeed ruled against the Trump administration in more than 20,000 ICE cases. But if the agency is facing so many court decisions blocking its actions, the solution is not to make detainees harder to trace. The solution is for ICE to reform its practices so that they comply with the law.
与此同时，移民拘留中心内的人员所面临的风险已达到极点。今年被拘留者的死亡人数有望创下历史新高，且政府一直将被拘留者遣送至斯威士兰和卢旺达等偏远的第三世界国家。律师无法联系到被拘留的当事人，可能会造成改变人生的严重后果。
Meanwhile, the stakes for people in immigration detention could not be higher. This year is on track for a record number of detainee deaths, and the administration has been sending detainees to remote third-world countries like Eswatini and Rwanda. The inability of a lawyer to reach a client in detention could have life-altering consequences.
如果民调准确且民主党在11月的中期选举中重新获得国会控制权，立法者必须确保所有移民被拘留者的姓名在在线定位系统中准确显示。立法者还应要求该定位系统保持及时更新，并规定在转移被拘留者时必须通知其律师。政府许可的“失踪”现象在民主国家绝无容身之地。
If pollsters are correct and Democrats regain control of Congress in the November midterms, lawmakers must ensure that the names of all immigrant detainees appear correctly in the online locator system. Lawmakers could also require that the locator stay updated in a timely manner and that lawyers be notified of detainee transfers. Government-sanctioned disappearances do not belong in a democracy.
劳尔·A·雷耶斯（Raul A. Reyes）是纽约市的一名移民律师和电视评论员。
Raul A. Reyes is an immigration attorney and television commentator in New York City.