CIAO DATE: 02/2014
December 2012
As the Obama Administration embarks on its second term and recommits itself to immigration reform, it should prioritize its commitment to transform the immigration detention system . In 2009, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) committed to overhaul the U.S. immigration detention system and shift it away from its longtime reliance on jails and jail-like facilities. Since that time, ICE has taken steps to address some of the problems in the existing system. It has, for example, hired onsite detention service managers to improve oversight, implemented new parole guidance for arriving asylum seekers, and streamlined the process for detainee health care treatment authorization. It has also taken a number of steps towards a broader transformation of the system, such as opening a “model” civil detention facility in Karnes County, Texas, that offers conditions more appropriate for immigration detainees.
Resource link: How to Repair the U.S. Immigration Detention System [PDF] - 123K