Thread: Flaws found in options for immigrant detention

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Flaws found in options for immigrant detention
By SUSAN CARROLL Copyright 2009 Houston
Oct. 20, 2009, 12:21PM


Nearly one in five suspected illegal immigrants who went through an Immigration and Customs Enforcement intensive monitoring program absconded while under supervision during the past five years, newly disclosed records show.

The records, obtained by the Houston Chronicle through a Freedom of Information Act request, raise questions about the effectiveness of ICE's alternatives-to-detention programs, which President Barack Obama's administration touted this month as a key component in the planned overhaul of the nation's immigration detention system.

Immigrants enrolled in the programs are expected to comply with a range of measures, including checking in by phone, wearing ankle monitors and obeying a curfew. The programs are designed to improve court appearance rates for non-violent offenders.

On its Web site, ICE boasts a 99 percent appearance rate in immigration court for participants in its restrictive Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP). Yet records maintained by private contractors that administer ISAP show they were “unable to locateâ€

[quote]“There are literally tens of thousands of people who are taken into immigration custody and held in jails who pose neither a risk to the safety of the community (nor) a flight risk,â€

Immigrants enrolled in the programs are expected to comply with a range of measures, including checking in by phone, wearing ankle monitors and obeying a curfew. The programs are designed to improve court appearance rates for non-violent offenders.

Make me laugh...

Cut the monitoring device off after you have made arrangements to move to another location.

Dixie