Prisons are at max capacity thanks to Trump
Critics blast U.S. president for sending asylum seekers, border detainees to jails
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration has already led to overrun detention facilities, long lines of asylum seekers camping out at the U.S.-Mexico border and a decision to separate young children from their parents indefinitely.
Now, the administration is sending more than 1,600 immigrants — including some of those parents — to federal prisons amid a lack of space in other jails. The decision brought immediate denunciation from immigrant rights activists who were already enraged over the policy of separating parents from children.
The move comes as an increasing number of families and children have been coming to the border, further straining an immigration system that’s already at capacity. Despite hard-line rhetoric from the White House, more than 50,000 people were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in May alone — many of them families and children — and courts, asylum officers and jails are struggling to keep up with the influx.
Historically, immigrants without serious criminal records were released from custody while they pursued asylum or refugee status. The Trump administration has moved to detain more people, including asylum seekers.
Under a new zero tolerance policy, parents who are charged with illegal entering the country, are separated from their children while in custody. The children are usually released to other family.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions insists the policy of separating families is necessary to deter illegal border-crossings, and authorities say the decision to send people to prison is a temporary one amid a shortage of beds.
“If you bring a child, it is still an unlawful act,” Sessions said in a speech in Montana this week.
“You don’t get immunity if you bring a child with you.”
Critics said many of those transferred to federal prison appeared to have already been convicted of the misdemeanour of unlawful entry and sentenced to time served.
“Even if you accept that draconian argument, what is completely flawed is that they’ve already completed the criminal prosecution,” said Matt Adams, legal director of the Seattle-based Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.
“What is the rationale for continuing to separate them from their children and sending them to federal prison when they are just waiting for asylum?”
As Trump has ramped up enforcement, Congress continues to have little appetite for building additional detention space — hence the crunch.
In March, Congress agreed to fund 40,520 beds in immigration detention centres, an increase of 3 per cent but a far cry from the administration’s roughly 40 per cent surge in deportation arrests. The White House had sought money for more than 51,000 beds.
In a statement Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Carissa Cutrell said the agency needed to acquire more than 1,600 beds in prisons.
“The use of (prisons) is intended to be a temporary measure until ICE can obtain additional long-term contracts for new detention facilities or until the surge in illegal border crossings subsides,” the statement said.
It’s not clear how much different the conditions for the detainees will be at the prisons.
Advocates have long complained about the conditions inside traditional immigration detention facilities.
But Katharina Obser, a senior policy adviser with the Women’s Refugee Commission, a New York-based non-profit, called it reckless and inappropriate to house asylum seekers in federal prisons.
“This new move is due to a self-manufactured crisis that stems directly from this administration cruelly separating families at the border and locking up parents, many of whom are lawfully seeking asylum,” she said.