The Biden administration on Friday ordered the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop detaining immigrants in an Alabama County jail and to limit the use of three other detention centers, citing inappropriate conditions. , according to a notice from the agency obtained by CBS News.
ICE Acting Director Tae Johnson instructed officials not to use the Etowah County Detention Center north of Alabama because of “a long history of serious deficiencies identified during inspections. of the facilities “. Officials said the detention center has no significant operational value for the ICE.
Johnson also announced that the ICE will pause the use of the Glades County Detention Center in South Florida, saying any future transfer of detainees to the facility will depend on compliance with internal detention standards.
According to the notice, ICE will reduce the number of detainees at the Winn Correctional Center, a facility in rural Louisiana run by a for-profit prison company, citing staff shortages. The agency said it had commissioned an official to monitor the condition of the facility, which is being renovated.
Gerald Herbert / AP
Meanwhile, the Alamance County Detention Center in North Carolina will move from a long-term detention center to a 72-hour processing facility, according to the notice. ICE officials cited concerns over conditions at the county jail where detainees are being held, including a lack of outdoor recreation.
Friday’s announcement represents the most significant step by the Biden administration in its efforts to reform the long-standing ICE detention system. plagued by reports of inadequate conditions and allegations of ill-treatment of detainees. The ICE will continue to monitor conditions in other detention centers, according to the notice.
In an interview with CBS News in January, Homeland Security Secretary Alexander Mayorkas described detention reform as one of his priorities for 2022. Last year, Mayorkas directed The ICE must stop using two places of detention in Georgia and Massachusetts where detainees had reported ill-treatment.
The administration, however, has not yet fulfilled President Biden’s campaign promise to end the detention of for-profit immigrants. “I will just say this: first, detention reform is my priority, and second, the president is living up to his promises,” Mayorkas said in January when asked about the promise.
Representatives from the ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), his umbrella agency, did not respond to requests for comment on Friday’s announcement.
Earlier this month, the ICE had just over 20,000 immigrants in its detention system, which consists primarily of county prisons and for-profit prisons, agency statistics show.
The agency detains adult immigrants facing deportation, including migrants who recently crossed a U.S. border illegally and non-citizens arrested after being convicted of crimes that made them deportable.
Based on the broader deportation policies of the Trump era, the Biden administration has ordered ICE agents to focus on arresting immigrants who are considered a threat to national security or public safety. such as those convicted of serious crimes as well as migrants who have recently entered the United States. illegally.
The policies effectively exempt undocumented immigrants who have lived and worked in the U.S. before November 2020 from arrest and deportation as long as they do not commit serious crimes.
Friday’s notice said Johnson ordered the agency to relocate detained immigrants to the four locations included in its ad to other facilities if they fall within the administration’s immigration enforcement priorities.
In addition to limiting ICE arrests, the Biden administration has expanded the so-called alternatives to detention programs, which allow the agency to monitor, through ankle monitors or other means, immigrants who are not physically under arrest. his custody.
Earlier this month, approximately 192,000 immigrants were enrolled in alternative detention programs, ICE figures show.
- In:
- immigration
- US Immigration and Customs Service
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