Editorial Board
Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Ahmad Al-Shrmany had a very simple wish. He wanted to be deported. Al-Shrmany, 34, wanted to be returned either to his native Iraq or to his adopted Canada.

He was deported, but only after his wish was reported in an Associated Press article distributed worldwide.

He had been held for a year in a detention center in Houston. Al-Shrmany's story speaks to a dysfunctional system that detains non-criminal immigrants who are denied due process and are left to languish in detention facilities around the country.

In many instances, they are held simply for the convenience of the government and the profit of the private companies that operate the facilities — a $1.7 billion industry according The Associated Press article carried in Sunday's American-Statesman and other publications.

The system was designed to quickly deport illegal immigrants but is obviously not performing. Not only is the system cumbersome and inefficient, it is embarrassing to a nation that prides itself on the wisdom and fairness of its justice system.

The network of detention centers is no stranger to either controversy or litigation. The T. Don Hutto Center in Taylor was the target of a 2007 lawsuit that led to the adoption of the first-ever federal standards for the detention of children and their families.

The litigation is the subject of "The Least of These," a documentary that focuses on the lawsuit. The documentary is being screened Wednesday as part of the South By Southwest festival.

The success of the litigation is a sign of the failure of the "lock 'em up and forget 'em" philosophy that might be popular on talk radio and the blogosphere but is morally and legally bankrupt.

There is no quick and easy solution because the circumstances that led to the detentions are as individual as the detainees. The immigration laws and procedures are long overdue for a comprehensive and thoughtful overhaul that has thus far eluded a Congress that appears to be content to fill this legal and moral hole with taxpayer dollars.

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/conten ... _edit.html