Exclusive: U.S. sending 1,600 immigration
detainees to federal prisons
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[June 08, 2018]
By Sarah N. Lynch and Kristina Cooke
WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S.
authorities are transferring into federal prisons about 1,600
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees, officials told
Reuters on Thursday, in the first large-scale use of federal prisons to
hold detainees amid a Trump administration crackdown on people entering
the country illegally.
An ICE spokeswoman told Reuters five federal prisons will temporarily
take in detainees awaiting civil immigration court hearings, including
potential asylum seekers, with one prison in Victorville, California,
preparing to house 1,000 people.
President Donald Trump has made his hard-line stance on immigration an
integral part of his presidency and has promised to build a wall along
the U.S.-Mexican border to stem the flow of migrants. He has also
promised to keep immigrants targeted for deportation locked up “pending
the outcome of their removal proceedings.”
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Under former President Barack Obama, many immigrants without serious
criminal records were allowed to await their court dates while living in
the United States. Others were housed in immigration detention
facilities or local jails. ICE has used federal prisons in the past but
not on this scale, sources said.
The new policy drew criticism from immigration advocates and former
officials.
Kevin Landy, a former ICE assistant director responsible for the Office
of Detention Policy and Planning under the Obama administration, said
the move to house so many detainees at once in federal prisons was
“highly unusual” and raises oversight concerns.
“A large percent of ICE detainees have no criminal record and are more
vulnerable in a prison setting – security staff and administrators at
BOP facilities have spent their careers dealing with hardened criminals
serving long sentences for serious felonies, and the procedures and
staff training reflect that,” he said. “This sudden mass transfer could
result in some serious problems.”
Officials of a prison employees' union said the influx of ICE detainees,
who were arrested at the border or elsewhere in the United States by
immigration officials, raises questions about prison staffing and
safety.
Union leaders at prisons in California, Texas and Washington state who
spoke to Reuters said they had little time to prepare for the large
intake of detainees.
At Victorville, the prison getting the largest number of people, workers
are moving about 500 inmates in a medium-security facility to make
space, said John Kostelnik, local president for the American Federation
of Government Employees Council of Prison Locals union.
"There is so much movement going on," said Kostelnik. "Everyone is
running around like a chicken without their head."
In addition to Victorville, other prisons that have received or will
receive detainees include ones in Washington state, Oregon, Arizona and
Texas.
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The badge of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE)
Fugitive Operations team is seen in Santa Ana, California, U.S., May
11, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
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ICE spokeswoman Dani Bennett said ICE is "working to meet the demand
for additional immigration detention space" due to a surge in
illegal border crossings and a U.S. Department of Justice
zero-tolerance policy.
"To meet this need, ICE is collaborating with the U.S. Marshals
Service (USMS), the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), private detention
facility operators and local government agencies," she said in a
statement to Reuters.
In April 2018, nearly 51,000 people were apprehended at or near the
southern border, up from about 16,000 in the same month a year
earlier.
A new agreement between ICE and the Justice Department makes about
1,600 prison beds available and is expected to last 120 days, giving
ICE time to secure more space for detainees. It comes amid a
crackdown by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on both illegal border
crossings and people seeking asylum.
Recently, Sessions said the Justice Department planned to prosecute
every person who crosses the border illegally and to separate
migrant children from their parents.
Trump in the spring signed a memorandum ending "catch and release,"
in which illegal immigrants were released from detention while
awaiting court hearings.
According to ICE data, the average daily population of detainees in
its facilities as of May 26 was 41,134, up from the 2017 daily
average of 38,106.
Immigration advocates immediately decried the news of sending
detainees to federal penitentiaries.
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"Our federal prisons are set up to detain the worst of the worst.
They should not be used for immigration purposes," said Ali Noorani,
the executive director of the National Immigration Forum.
“Federal prisons are for hardened criminals. They are not physically
set up for immigrant landscapers looking for a job or fleeing
violence,” Noorani said.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington and Kristina Cooke in San
Francisco; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Lisa Shumaker)
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