ICE chief urges lawmakers to tour detention facilities
By Chris Strohm
CongressDaily May 23, 2008

Faced with mounting congressional criticism, the chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Friday defended how her agency treats illegal immigrants being held in detention facilities across the country and said lawmakers should see for themselves what the conditions are like.

ICE Administrator Julie Myers said that one of her highest priorities since taking over the agency just over two years ago has been improving conditions at detention facilities.

"My goal is to make sure absolutely everybody in our custody is cared for with the highest standards," she said.

The agency, part of the Homeland Security Department, and its detention operations have come under congressional fire in response to news reports citing poor care, including a CBS "60 Minutes" story and a four-part series in the Washington Post.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., announced last week he will introduce legislation aimed at ensuring the humane treatment of asylum seekers and other detained immigrants. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., and Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., sent Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff a letter May 15 demanding answers about the medical treatment provided to detainees.

"The Department of Homeland Security's disregard for detainee health is simply unacceptable," Conyers wrote. "Letting someone live or die as fate will allow is not just bad medicine; it is inhumane."

On Wednesday, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said he was joining forces with Conyers and Lofgren to support legislation that would require Homeland Security to provide timely and effective basic medical care to all detainees and report all detainee deaths to the department's inspector general and Congress.

Myers said she is reviewing the legislation but said the administration has not taken a position. She said some proposed legislative changes have been made by ICE, such as reporting deaths to the inspector general.

She said she hopes lawmakers will conduct their own look into ICE detention operations and tour the facilities. For example, she said deaths of detainees have dropped from 29 in 2004 to seven in 2007 while the number of detained immigrants has increased. She added there has not been a suicide in 15 months.

Myers said ICE is continually looking for ways to improve detainee treatment and that she has asked the department's Office of Health Affairs for recommendations. She said the agency wants to create more electronic medical records for detainees.

On a related front, Myers said ICE is facing a surge of illegal immigrants coming from U.S. jails who must be detained while they await deportation. She said the agency will accept about 200,000 illegal immigrants from jails this year, compared to about 65,000 in 2006. But overall, Myers estimates that U.S. jails house about 500,000 illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes.

"I anticipate that next year's number will be higher than 200,000," she said.

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