Detained woman receives sacrament
of reconciliation in the cafeteria of a
Texas detention center.

"Me and the kids became homeless for a while due to me needing back surgery and unable to work. There was not enough to eat; the kids went to bed hungry every night. I could not live like that anymore. ... I have fought to keep my family together since this nightmare started four years ago, but I feel I don't have it in me. All I want is my husband home; I need his help to keep things together." — Chiara, wife of a detainee

U.S. citizen family members and legal residents are permitted to visit detainees; yet, they are sometimes turned away at detention facilities without explanation. The failure of detention administrators to respect the rights of families contributes to the pain of detention.

"We drove every weekend, twice a weekend, six hours on the road on Saturday, six hours on the road on Sunday. Our visiting time was twenty minutes long; sometimes it was five minutes if there were more people since they would divide it up among us. There were times when they'd say, 'Sorry, we're all booked up and you can't see him today. Sorry, see ya'." — Sondra

Standards in Name Only

Nancy with her husband, Vitali.
Vitali was detained as a result
of a misfiled visa application.

Deficiencies in the treatment of the detained are exacerbated by the government's unwillingness to enforce its own detention standards. While the Agency for Immigration and Custom Enforcement has issued 36 standards for the treatment of immigration detainees, these lack the force of law. The private contractors or jails that hold most detainees need not comply with these standards, nor are the standards enforceable in the courts.

The non-enforcement of standards leads to discrepancies in the care detainees receive at different facilities. The kind of spiritual care provided by JRS at federal centers, for example, is lacking at non-federal facilities. Proper care and treatment should not be denied to people in crisis due to a failure to make detention standards mandatory at all locations.

"There's no life in detention without spiritual care. Chaplains and religious volunteers give hope, love and faith that the horrible situation will end. They are not offering freedom, money or any kind of help; they are just walking with us in our pain." — Amalia, a former detainee

"I bring laughter and song to the men and women who are receiving very little joy in their lives today. ... It is hard, but I share this pain with the people I serve." — Detention center chaplain

Why Detention?

In addition to recognizing the need to improve the conditions of detention, it is important to consider the even more fundamental question as to why most detainees need be detained at all.

Currently serving in Iraq, Scott is the
nephew of Lisa and her detained husband.
Detainees are often members of
law-abiding families who
give back to American society.

Present detention policy derives in large part from political pressure for increased immigration control in response to concerns about public order and security. The use of detention in this manner is unwarranted. As a result of misguided detention policies, many thousands of individuals are confined at tremendous financial and social cost when they pose no danger to society or risk of flight.

Workable alternatives to detention that protect public interests exist but are underutilized. Pilot programs have proven highly successful monitoring individuals and ensuring that they appear for immigration proceedings. These programs allow individuals to live in their communities with supervision, saving taxpayers nearly $80 per person, per day.

Asylum seekers should not be detained.