Schumer Reacts To Obama Administration's New Immigrant Detention Policy: Dhs Should Monitor Non-Criminal Aliens With Ankle Bracelets Instead Of Building New Facilities To House Them

Press Release

Under New DHS Proposal, Detainees Would Be Centralized In Converted Hotels, Hospitals

Senator: Around Half Of Those Detained At Any Given Time Are Non-Violent, Non-Criminal Aliens Who Can Be Effectively Monitored Without Being Jailed

Detaining an Immigrant Costs $99 Per Day; Monitoring With Ankle Bracelet Costs Less Than $20 Per Day

WASHINGTON, DC--U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) said Tuesday the Obama administration should revisit new plans to convert hospitals and hotels into immigration detention facilities and instead rely on electronic monitoring technology, such as ankle bracelets, to track the whereabouts of non-violent, non-criminal aliens and guarantee their court appearances.

"Nearly half of detained immigrants have no criminal history. It would be more cost-effective to track these individuals with an electronic monitoring device than to build brand new facilities to detain them," Schumer said.

Schumer, the Chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, floated the proposal ahead of today's expected announcement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that it will reform the current hodge-podge system of detention. That policy, which relies mainly on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) entering into contracts with state and local prison systems, has led to inhumane treatment of detainees, but it is also grossly expensive.

Under the new DHS plan, illegal immigrants will be supervised and detained according to their danger level and risk of flight. Schumer expressed support for this principle, and said new, centralized detention facilities make sense when it comes to detainees with criminal records. But nearly half of those currently detained are immigrants that have never been convicted of a crime. Schumer said these individuals could be monitored just as effectively--and more cheaply--by requiring them to, say, wear ankle bracelets.

According to the non-profit Detention Watch Network, the average cost of detaining an immigrant is $99 per detainee per day. By contrast, an electronic monitoring device can cost less than $20 per day to administer. These alternatives to detention still have a 93 percent success rate in producing the individuals for their immigration court appearances, according to the group.

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