Reform for Immigration Detention Centers

Over the next few years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency will conduct a massive overhaul of their current detention system. This overhaul, when accomplished, will be a welcome relief for immigration lawyers and detainees alike. In the current system, immigrant detainees are held in one of 350 detention facilities sprinkled sporadically throughout the United States. For the most part, the facilities are run by local county authorities and private contractors. The proposed reform seeks to create an Office of Detention Policy and Planning, (ODPP), which will be responsible for planning, designing and executing the creation of a centralized civil detention center more inline with ICE policies and agenda. The current penal approach to immigration detention has led, in some instances, to mistreatment of detainees, poor medical care and inadequate access to legal representation. Hopefully, with more direct management and a centralized civil detention system; detainees will receive the immigration help they need.Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement