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Essay: Secure Communities, Priority Enforcement, and IDENT/IAFIS Interoperability: Recommendations for Effective Reform (2015)

June 11, 2015 By Robert Goodis Leave a Comment

 

Abstract:

This essay explores an immigration enforcement strategy known as IDENT/IAFIS Interoperability, comparing the strategy under its original Secure Communities structure, and under the recently-announced Priority Enforcement Program (PEP).  In addition to Secure Communities and PEP, this paper discusses related enforcement programs, overall immigration enforcement goals, and the outcomes of recent enforcement efforts.  The paper examines Constitutional challenges to the enforcement programs, and explores deeper issues related to the spectrum of state and local criminal laws, community trust in law enforcement, and dangers of the immigration detention system as it currently exists.  Ultimately, this essay provides policy recommendations to address the challenges introduced by Secure Communities and the Priority Enforcement Program.


 

This essay was prepared by Robert Goodis to fulfill his Upper Level Writing Requirement at American University, Washington College of Law, in the spring of 2015.  The paper appears here in the exact form submitted to WCL faculty.  It is included in the archives of The Goodis Center because of the relevance of the subject-matter to our ongoing research.  This essay may be called a working paper of The Goodis Center – we welcome feedback and discussion.

View the full essay here or browse our archive of full reports and essays.

Filed Under: Announcements, Reports and Essays Tagged With: Human Rights, Immigration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Immigration Detention, immigration enforcement, Law Enforcement, Priority Enforcement Program, Secure Communities

Report: Contemporary Immigration Detention Practices in the United States (2010)

June 11, 2015 By Robert Goodis Leave a Comment

This report, prepared in 2010, documents the state of United States immigration detention practices, focusing on Northwest Detention Center – run by The GEO Group, Inc. – and on the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility – run by the Corrections Corporation of America.

The report was prepared by Robert Goodis as his Senior Project in fulfillment of the requirements for his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Human Rights at Bard College.  The report concludes that further research is necessary to reach any viable sociology-based recommendations, and it is based on these findings that The Goodis Center has continued researching immigration detention as one of our primary areas of focus.  While the report was unable to point to a sociological key to reforming immigration detention, it does unveil systemic problems in immigration detention across the United States and broadly offer the insight that alternatives to detention should be used whenever possible.

An excerpt from Chapter Three – Case Study: T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, Williamson County, TX, and the Corrections Corporation of America is included below.  The full report is available for viewing and download here.

Excerpt from Chapter Three – Case Study: T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, Williamson County, TX, and the Corrections Corporation of America

T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, T. Don Hutto Residential Center, Immigration Detention, Detention Center

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Read the rest of the report here.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….. 1
Focusing on Asylum-Seekers, Asylees, and Refugees………………………………………… 1
Chapter One………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
A Short Introduction to Refugee Policy and the Definitions of Refugee & Asylum-Seeker ……. 3
A Brief Historical Survey of the Role of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in U.S. Legislation …… 14
A Survey and Summary of Select Laws, Doctrines, and Jurisprudence Affecting Refugee and
Asylum-Seeker Detention in the United States ……………………………………………………………… 17
The Response-Time of the United States in Changing Laws to Abide by International
Standards ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 34
Chapter Two – Case Study: Northwest Detention Center …………………………………………………… 36
The History and Purpose of the Northwest Detention Center and The GEO Group, Inc. …….. 36
Facility Design, Daily Living, and Detainee Demographics ……………………………………………. 38
Issues Facing Detainees at NWDC ………………………………………………………………………………. 41
Due process and grievances at NWDC ……………………………………………………………………… 41
Food, living conditions, medical care, and visitation at NWDC …………………………………… 48
Punishment and treatment by guards ………………………………………………………………………… 55
Administration and Oversight Issues at NWDC …………………………………………………………….. 59
Chapter Three – Case Study: T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, Williamson County, TX,
and the Corrections Corporation of America ………………………………………………………………….. 66
The History and Purpose of the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility and the Corrections
Corporation of America ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 66
Facility Design, Daily Living, and Detainee Demographics ……………………………………………. 71
Issues Facing Detainees at Hutto …………………………………………………………………………………. 78
Due process and grievances at Hutto ………………………………………………………………………… 78
Food, living conditions, visitation, medical care, and education at Hutto ………………………. 83
Punishment and treatment by guards ………………………………………………………………………… 93
Administration and Oversight Issues at Hutto ……………………………………………………………….. 97
Chapter Four – Analysis, Conclusions, and Recommendations …………………………………………. 102
The Human Rights, Social, and Legal Implications of Contemporary Detention Practices … 102
The Human Rights, Social, and Legal Implications of Contemporary Detention Practices as
Analyzed through a Sociological Approach ………………………………………………………………… 114
Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 125
Acronyms and Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 151


 

Abstract:

“Contemporary Immigration Detention Practices in the United States: A Study in Sociology and Human Rights” is a study on the detention and incarceration of immigrants, with particular focus on the effects and implications of detaining refugees and asylum-seekers, in the United States. The study reports on two specific detention facilities—the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, and the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility (a.k.a. T. Don Hutto Residential Center) in Taylor, Texas—as sociological case-studies, primarily presented as legal briefs, to explore how contemporary detention practices relate to the legal structure and ideals established by domestic and international law, including international human rights law. Through an analysis of how current practices satisfy or miss ideal standards set by laws, declarations, policies, and other such guidelines, this study determines that current detention practices constitute a clear and detrimental case of systemic human rights violations. While a brief sociological exploration of the trends and conditions in immigration detention offers various theories which may explain—and eventually go into forming an effective remedy for—these violations, this study can only determine that more research needs to be compiled in order to reach any valid sociological conclusions.

 


 

Read the full report, courtesy of the Bard College Digital Commons.

 

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Browse our archive of full reports and essays.

Filed Under: Announcements, Current Events, Reports and Essays Tagged With: accountability, Corporate Accountability, Corporate Responsibility, Human Rights, Immigration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Immigration Detention, immigration enforcement

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