Challenges and Opportunities in U.S. Immigrant Detention Policy Reform : Addressing the Need for Legally Enforceable Standards to Protect Human Rights

In recent years, immigrant rights advocates have criticized certain policies of the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) system of immigration detention, including the widespread use of private contractors, the lack of proper oversight, the grouping of violent criminals and non-violent undocumented immigrants (particularly minority women and children) in holding cells, and the neglect of detained immigrants in need of medical attention. In reviewing these developments, I contend that the Obama administration must take more substantive steps towards reforming the existing system, particularly by instituting legally enforceable standards with penalties for performance failures, moving away from private contractors, and applying effective rulemaking for better long-term management and monitoring of U.S. detention facilities