Trump Administration plans to increase the number of ICE immigration jails

USA Today reports that additional federal immigration jails will soon be erected across the country.  This has been deemed necessary as a result of a significant increase in the number of undocumented immigrants being arrested.  Between January and September of 2017, the number of people being arrested under suspicion of being in the country illegally has increased by 43% over the last year.  

Within the same timeframe, ICE arrested 179% more undocumented immigrants without criminal records than did the Obama administration.  ICE currently contains anywhere from 31,000 to 41,000 a people in federal prisons, private prisons, and local jails.  ICE has issued a statement clarifying that the while they are seeking out new jails, the results have not yet been made final.  Yet it seems safe to assume they will come to fruition at some point, given they also added that they are aligned with the White House’s planned 2018 budget containing an extra $1.2 billion to increase detention capacity.      

Will sanctuary cities remain sacred?

It’s worthwhile to note that four of the cities destined to have new jails are all sanctuary cities – Chicago, Detroit, St. Paul, and Salt Lake City.  This relates to recent news regarding the Department of Justice alleging that several such sanctuary cities are in violation of federal statutes that require them to cooperate with federal immigration officials.  It appears that the motivation behind locating additional jails in these cities has to do with expanding ICE’s jurisdiction over these locations.  With the existence of new jails in which to detain people, ICE will no longer need information shared by local authorities, making the current debacle a moot point.  

In September of this year, ICE went across the nation arresting over 450 people who resided in Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts.  Most of these cities are sanctuary cities, as made apparent by the name given to the action: “Operation Safe City”.  Whereas the Obama administration focused more on immigrants as they crossed the border, the Trump administration has made it a priority to target people within America’s borders.  This explains the need for more detention space.

Private prisons appear to have been picked beforehand

There is still a long process for ICE to go through before obtaining new facilities, however.  The notices they have filed are only Requests for Information and are the initial step in the federal contracting process.  Still, it looks likely that these plans will go through to completion at some point in the future.  The two major candidates for these construction contracts were both big supporters of the Trump administration.  The two private prison contractors in question, GEO Group and CoreCivic, both made significant contributions to Trump’s campaign and inauguration.  The stock prices of both companies have skyrocketed since the prospect of these new prisons has arisen.

If you have questions relating to ICE’s enforcement standards, know someone who has been detained, or just want to know more general information, contact our office today.  

 

Sources:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/17/trump-plans-massive-increase-federal-immigration-jails/771414001/

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