Locking Up Immigrants: The INS Gets a Piece of the Action in the Favorite U.S. Solution to Crime
Article by Jessica Levy
“I came to this country at the age of 17...from Laos as a refugee...For my crime, which was possession of stolen property, I served ten hours in jail plus fines and restitution. At present I am being detained for my crime...which was committed in 1990. At present I feel cheated concerning the policy of life, liberty and justice for all mankind. The Crime was committed, justice was served, and I am still being punished.” - letter from an INS detainee at Yakima County Jail, WA
Congress’s passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) and the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty act of 1996 (AEDPA) greatly expanded the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s (INS) ability to detain and deport immigrants. As a result of these laws a conviction for relatively minor crimes like perjury and certain gambling offenses could mean detention and deportation for non-citizens, including legal permanent residents with U.S. citizen spouses and children.
Many immigrants are taken into INS custody after they have completed their criminal sentences, subjecting them to a form of double jeopardy. Asylum-seekers who have committed no crimes may also spend years behind bars while in asylum proceedings. Current diplomatic relations prevent the INS from deporting nationals of many countries, who, as a result, may become long term INS detainees. While recent court decisions and INS policy changes may offer more opportunities for release of long-term detainees, the INS also has plans to turn long term detainees over to facilities of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), further abdicating its responsibility for these detainees.
INS detention capacity has ballooned from 6,259 beds in 1992 to over 16,000 today, with a projected capacity of 24,000 by 2001. A daily detention report from INS Western Region dated 8/7/98 shows 4,752 people in INS/Border Patrol custody. Nationally over half of INS detainees are held in local jails or BOP facilities where INS standards for their care are not necessarily applied, thus the conditions for INS detainees vary widely. Detainees often have difficulty retaining the services of an attorney, since public defenders do not provide representation in immigration proceedings. Once in custody, detainees are frequently transferred between facilities with little notice to families and attorneys and are held with individuals serving criminal sentences.
The INS does not have enough of its own facilities to meet the demands of mandatory detention. Local jails provide space for immigration detainees and are paid by the INS up to twice as much per day as the jails receive to incarcerate those serving criminal sentences. The INS also contracts with private companies to run detention centers. For example, Seattle’s INS detention facility is run by the Correctional Services Corporation.
The 1996 immigration laws disproportionately affect people of color. Immigrants, especially immigrants of color, are increasingly barred from citizenship and subjected to detention and deportation under unfair laws. In addition, INS detention is splitting up families causing both citizens and non-citizens emotional and financial hardship. INS detention issues fit squarely within broader concerns surrounding the drive to lock up, shut out and ship off people of color in the U.S. under the guise of solving social problems like drug use and violence. The human rights concerns surrounding immigration detention must be considered within the broader struggle for racial justice and within the context of incarceration polices and practices in the U.S.
Jessica Levy worked for a year as a Project Coordinator with the Washington Allliance for Immigrant and Refugee Justice focusing on raising public awareness around the issue of immigration detention. WAIRJ is a coalition of individuals and organizations working collaboratively to uphold the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees in Washington state This article originally appeared in the Fall 1999 Justice Matters.
This article originally appeared in the Fall 1999 issue of Justice Matters.
