US sends 1,600 immigration detainees to federal prisons

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US authorities are transferring into federal prisons about 1,600 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees, officials said 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 said that 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 US-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.”

Flowers placed on a gate at the border between the US and Mexico during a protest against the new construction plan of about 34km of steel wall between Santa Teresa, New Mexico, and Ejido San Jeronimo, June 2, 2018. /VCG Photo

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.”

A supporter carries a sign as marchers pass the Metropolitan Detention Center, a US federal prison where undocumented immigrants are held, April 22, 2018. /VCG Photo

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 states 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.

Source(s): Reuters