In an attempt to save money ahead of the automatic budget cuts,which are scheduled to take effect Friday, the detainees are beingreleased in the US – even though they are facing the prospect ofdeportation.
For several days, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hasbeen opening their doors, sending off “low priority” detainees withlittle more than ankle bracelets and parole.
“All I can say is look, we’re doing our very best to minimizethe impacts of sequester,” Homeland Security Secretary JanetNapolitano said in a press briefing Monday. “But there’s only somuch I can do. I’m supposed to have 34,000 detention beds forimmigration. How do I pay for those?”
The average daily cost of detaining an immigrant is $122 to $164per detainee, the American Civil Liberties Union reports. In 2011,the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detained 429,000immigrants, which is more than twice as much as the 202,000 thatwere detained in 2002. The National Immigration Forum estimatesthat it would cost the federal government only 30 cents to $14 perday to monitor a detainee on supervised release.
Illegal immigrants are often kept in prison-like conditions,with many of them reporting poor sanitation conditions, lack ofmedical services, and abusive treatment by detention personnel.Still, the government shovels out billions of dollars each year tohouse inmates using its 34,000 beds – money that could be saved ifless immigrants were kept behind bars.
Earlier this month, DHS proposed a $5.65 billion budget for ICE.But the sequester has forced the agency to find alternate ways tokeep track of illegals.
“In order to make the best use of our limited detentionresources in the current fiscal climate and to manage our detentionpopulation under current congressionally mandated levels, ICE hasdirected field offices to review the detained population to ensureit is in line with available funding,” ICE spokeswoman GillianChristensen said in a statement.
Christensen also confirmed that illegal immigrations arecontinuing to be deported at record levels and that cases againstthem will continue, even if they have been temporarily released.ICE claims that the Obama administration has expelled moreimmigrants than ever before and that the release of low-priorityimmigrants will only allow the agency to better focus on high-leveloffenders.
While advocacy groups largely applauded the decision to releaselow-priority illegal immigrants, they also expressed disappointmentin the fact that it took looming budget cuts to force ICE to doso.
“The people being released today are people ICE could havereleased months – or in some cases, years – ago,” MohammadAbdollahi, member of the Dreamer-led National Immigrant YouthAlliance, told the Huffington Post.
“It shouldn’t take a manufactured crisis in Washington toprompt our immigration agencies to actually take steps towardsusing government resources wisely or keeping familiestogether,” Carolina Canizales of United We Dream told the NewYork Times.
But some opponents of the administration’s initiatives havecondemned ICE for releasing illegal immigrants, concerned that themove is a political one made in support of letting more immigrantsstay in the country.
One Republican aide who reviewed the DHS budget told theWashington Times than only about 5 percent of the ICE budget wouldbe cut by the sequester and that savings could come from a cut inmaintenance funds instead of releasing detainees.
“It is ludicrous for the administration to assert that theimmediate release of thousands of already-apprehended illegalaliens and fugitives is the way to meet this target,” the aidesaid. “Clearly this is a political decision – not a financialone.”
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