A Plan to Transform the US Immigrant Detention System

The US immigrant detention system serves two legitimate purposes, to ensure that persons in removal proceedings appear for their hearings and (if so ordered) can be deported and, in rare cases, to protect the public. Unlocking Human Dignity: A Plan to Transform the US Immigrant Detention System, a new report by the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), argues that these goals can be accomplished more humanely and at far less cost through a national infrastructure of community-based, supervised release programs. As the first step in this process, the report urges Congress to commission a comprehensive study on the benefits, challenges, cos, and time frame for creating a civil immigration detention system. It also proposes that the administration create a full menu of court compliance programs, with varying degrees of supervision, reporting, oversight and monitoring.

In a blog for the Huffington Post, CMS Executive Director Donald Kerwin outlines seven of the report’s main findings and corresponding recommendations.

To read the blog, visit: Donald M. Kerwin, “A Plan to Transform the US Immigrant Detention System,” Huffington Post (Posted May 13, 2015).

And to download Unlocking Human Dignity: A Plan to Transform the US Immigrant Detention System, visit: https://doi.org/10.1177/233150241500300203.