Spring Break
Incarcerating immigrants is too costly, unjust to continue
Cindy Luo
Issue date: 3/19/09 Section: Commentary
Immigration has been a hot topic for the past few years, but lately has been pushed out of sight in light of the current economic crisis. However, it is important that everyone in the United States, immigrant or citizen, know the consequences of the current system of detaining immigrants. The problem has been festering for a while, beginning before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Although not technically citizens of the United States, there is no reason why these people should not be afforded the rights that are not exclusive rights, but human rights. One in particular, is freedom.
According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) database, as of Jan. 25, 2009, there are 32,000 immigrant detainees. Nearly 19,000 of these detainees have never been convicted of a crime and are being held with merely a shred, if even that, of suspicion. The majority of these immigrants are here legally, as well. So why is it that people we have allowed into our country are being held without the due process and trials they deserve?
Due to ambiguity in detention laws, about a third of these immigrants have been held already for a month. These people are often asylum seekers or long-term residents whose cases have been mishandled. In the meantime, they are jailed without second thought. The ICE claims this is the best way to ensure that the immigrants appear at court hearings, but in reality incarceration is costly, inefficient and unfair.
For an average daily cost of $13, immigrants can be paroled on ankle monitors and the compliance rate is just as high, if not higher, than when they are incarcerated. On the other hand, detaining immigrants costs around $141 a night. Clearly, detainment is not the most cost-efficient way to handle these immigrants' cases.
In addition, these immigrants are often on their own. They become lost in a system that cannot keep track of them, unwanted by the United States government while also refused by their home country. Fifty-eight percent of the immigrants have no legal representation or anyone advocating on their behalf. In a foreign country, faced with foreign laws, they are abandoned when they need help the most. Their own country has forsaken them and they have nowhere to turn. The ICE merely puts them away - out of sight, out of mind -and hopes that by detaining them, the problem will eventually go away.
Although not technically citizens of the United States, there is no reason why these people should not be afforded the rights that are not exclusive rights, but human rights. One in particular, is freedom.
According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) database, as of Jan. 25, 2009, there are 32,000 immigrant detainees. Nearly 19,000 of these detainees have never been convicted of a crime and are being held with merely a shred, if even that, of suspicion. The majority of these immigrants are here legally, as well. So why is it that people we have allowed into our country are being held without the due process and trials they deserve?
Due to ambiguity in detention laws, about a third of these immigrants have been held already for a month. These people are often asylum seekers or long-term residents whose cases have been mishandled. In the meantime, they are jailed without second thought. The ICE claims this is the best way to ensure that the immigrants appear at court hearings, but in reality incarceration is costly, inefficient and unfair.
For an average daily cost of $13, immigrants can be paroled on ankle monitors and the compliance rate is just as high, if not higher, than when they are incarcerated. On the other hand, detaining immigrants costs around $141 a night. Clearly, detainment is not the most cost-efficient way to handle these immigrants' cases.
In addition, these immigrants are often on their own. They become lost in a system that cannot keep track of them, unwanted by the United States government while also refused by their home country. Fifty-eight percent of the immigrants have no legal representation or anyone advocating on their behalf. In a foreign country, faced with foreign laws, they are abandoned when they need help the most. Their own country has forsaken them and they have nowhere to turn. The ICE merely puts them away - out of sight, out of mind -and hopes that by detaining them, the problem will eventually go away.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Matthew LaMontagne
posted 3/20/09 @ 11:29 AM EST
While I agree with you that incarceration is not the answer, I believe that ankle bracelets are not a practical option either. One needs only to spend a day in Waterbury, CT in order to understand what I am saying. (Continued…)
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