H.R. 2217, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. FOSTER. I rise today in support of this amendment, and I would like to thank my colleague from Florida (Mr. Deutch) for joining me in the fight on this important issue.

Our amendment would end the costly and inhumane practice of imposing arbitrary immigrant detention requirements by striking the language in this bill which mandates that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, maintain 34,000 immigrants in detention every single day.

Mandatory detention comes at a high cost both for taxpayers and immigrant families who are needlessly torn apart. Immigration detention costs the United States $2 billion a year. That's $5.4 million a day or $164 per day per detainee. Despite the availability of other proven cheaper methods, including ankle bracelets and supervised release that cost the Federal Government anywhere from 30 cents a day to $14 a day, we continue to use detention as the primary method for immigrants facing deportation. Not only is this quota fiscally irresponsible, but it makes it impossible for DHS to make rational decisions about detention based on enforcement priorities and needs.

There is also a high human cost. Most immigrants in detention are held in county jails or facilities run by private prison corporations often hundreds of miles from anyone they know. Human rights abuses have been well documented in facilities across the country. Many immigrants in the system have strong ties to their communities and no criminal records; yet they must fight their cases from a distant jail all because of this arbitrary quota. No other law enforcement agencies in our government have such quotas. Rather than a per-day bed quota, ICE's use of bed space should be based on actual need, which is the approach used in every other law enforcement context.

In his letter from the Birmingham jail, Martin Luther King, Jr., said:

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Mandatory detention quotas distort our system of justice and are a threat to freedom and justice in our country. Mr. Chairman, I rise to end this costly and needless injustice, and I urge my colleagues to support our amendment.

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