Immigration detention centers fail government's own standards

The federal government routinely failed to follow its own standards regulating immigration detention centers across the country, denying detainees sufficient recreation time and adequate access to attorneys, legal materials and telephones, according to a new report issued today.

As a result of the widespread violations, hundreds of thousands of detainees faced tremendous challenges in making their case to stay in the U.S. and were frequently denied basic due process rights, according to the report.

“The findings in our report raise serious of doubts as to whether the hundreds of thousands of immigrant detained each year get a fair shot at justice,” said one of the authors, Karen Tumlin of the National Immigration Law Center.

The report is based primarily on thousands of pages of reviews conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from 2001 to 2005, turned over by court order in a legal case. The authors also studied reviews of detention centers by the American Bar Assn. and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Among the findings were that at least 41 facilities did not give detainees the minimum number of hours and days of recreation required by the standards, and that 19 centers did not offer any outdoor recreation time. The report also found deficiencies in access to phones and legal information.

For example, at least 29 detention facilities had no law library and 30 centers failed to provide reasonable privacy for legal calls. In addition, detainees were often placed in solitary confinement without justification.

Dora Schriro, special adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, said the report was careful and impressive but also dated, with half of the reviews predating the creation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Since then, she said, the government has increased oversight of the detention centers’ day-to-day operations and compliance with the standards.

Nevertheless, Schriro said there are still areas of the immigration detention system that need to be improved. “Where there are opportunities to improve the current system we are clearly committed to making those changes,” she said. At the same time, Schriro said she is in the process of assessing the immigration detention system as a whole, visiting centers throughout the nation and determining what should be reformed.

The authors said the expansion of immigration detention over the past several years contributed to the failures. There are currently more than 31,000 immigration detainees, up from about 20,000 in early 2006. The immigration enforcement agency has been criticized by legislators, advocates and judges for problems at the detention centers.

“These problems have been exacerbated by the growth in detention,” Tumlin said. “What we have is a monster immigration detention system that is woefully unregulated.”

Tumlin said the same problems cited between 2001 and 2005 still exist today. She said she believes the standards are so frequently violated because they are not enforceable.

The government updated its standards in 2008 but they are still not legally binding. The report recommends that either Congress or the Obama administration make the standards into law.

Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-L.A.) introduced legislation in February that would do just that. The Department of Homeland Security plans to announce changes to the immigration detention system in coming months.

-- Anna Gorman

Comments

[abusedcitizen]

The solution is to close the detention centers. Repatriate the illegal aliens immediately. Problem solved.
Illegals then have access to all of the recreation time, attorneys, phones, etc. they desire. If they wish to communicate with the immigration services of the United States, they can do so at their countries' nearest US consulate or embasy.
The American citizens win by no longer having to fund detention centers.
This is a win/win solution.

[Pablo]

Advocates for unrestricted immigration will undoubtedly cite this study as another reason to erase our borders. For those of us who believe in border enforcement, however, it shows how desperately we need to expedite the repatriation of criminals. Some of us believe that our laws should be enforced ... and quickly, too!

[Mcmorty]

Great, first the Federal Government can't enforce the current immigration laws and now they fail on their standards for detention centers. I hope Congresswoman Roybal-Allard's legislation will address both of these failures so that we can get them corrected.

[NathanArr]

@Pablo Often it seems easy to say that 'repatriate' them but without the proper reforms in place we know what rapid repatriation means - violation of due process and basic constitutional rights.

We need Comprehensive immigration reform that fixes what is broken - like the detention system and restores the rule of law. The status quo of filling up a bunch of prisons with people whose paperwork expired is not only stupid, it also costs alot of money.

[going Thru the process]

Well I saw what was clearly marked signs in yellow that state square footage and maximum occupancy in the door of every holding cell, of course this were not followed. Then a big paper on the wall has guidelines that clearly state that woman children will not be handcuffed at all while in transfer. If they were to be handcuffed they needed to get approval from the supervisor and have a written report. Of course this was also not followed. Then you also hear ice agents laugh at peoples documentation and say they are fake, then the people get released later that day. After being clearly yelled at all day that they are going to get deported even though they are legal citizens.