3/10/2010

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) runs a system of immigration detention facilities that accommodate foreign nationals who are taken into custody. In an effort to inform our readers of recent developments in immigration enforcement, we include this brief update on reforms in the immigration detention policy, announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on October 6, 2009. 

The reforms coincided with the release of an official report on ICE's immigration detention system, which pointed out several areas of concern. In response, ICE announced an array of remedial measures, which follow.

Contract Reforms: Many ICE detention facilities are run by contractors, and contract oversight was found to be wanting. ICE will centralize its contract administration and aggressively monitor contract performance, to yield cost savings and program efficiencies.

Risk Management: Not all detainees require expensive, prison-like detention. ICE will improve its risk assessment tools, and increase its use of less expensive alternatives to detention, as appropriate. ICE will explore using converted hotels, nursing homes, and other residential facilities to house non-criminal, non-violent populations, such as newly-arrived asylum seekers.

Medical Care: ICE will improve medical care for detainees with unique medical or mental health needs.

Special Populations: ICE will consolidate several facilities to house female detainees, to better meet the needs of this population at lower cost.

Accountability: New personnel will increase federal oversight of contract detention facilities; new training courses, policies, and procedures will better equip federal overseers to provide day-to-day supervision. ICE will speed up its rollout of a new locator system, designed to help attorneys, family members, and others to find detained persons.