Report on immigration detention centers raises questions of ‘perverse financial incentive’

The federal government detained an average of 35,929 people per day in immigration detention centers during the 2017 fiscal year.
November 29, 2017
ThinkProgress

An analysis of the nation’s 201 immigration detention facilities contracted through the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is raising concerns about inadequate standards, contracting practices, and limited accountability. Two nonprofit advocacy groups obtained a spreadsheet of these facilities as part of a four-year long Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the agency.

A spreadsheet analysis by the nonprofits Detention Watch Network and the Center for Constitutional Rights found that an average of 35,929 people per day were detained in immigration detention centers nationwide during the 2017 fiscal year through July 10, a number that does not include family detention centers or women detained at Hutto, an all-women detention center in Texas. Of that total number, 73 percent (or 26,240 people) were held in facilities contracted to private prison operators, the documents show.

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Last modified 

December 7, 2017