A vigil was held on May 24 to honor those who died in U.S. immigration and customs enforcement detention, as well as those who were subject to mass deportation, outside the Crom Detention Center in Miami. Rebecca Blackwell/AP Closed subtitles
Federal Government holds More than 48,000 Immigration detainees have been affected by about 20% since January.
That's already Thousands of Apart from funding from immigration and customs enforcement or ICE, the government has shown that its work is far from over. President Trump's border tsar Tom Homan He once said he wanted to see 100,000 detained.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently confirmed that the government will double the arrest quota for immigration officials - between 1,800 and 3,000 per day. With this demand, the government is strengthening its pursuit of more space.
Nearly 90% There are many people in ice custody in facilities run by a for-profit private company. The two largest Geo Group and Corecivic are working to improve their ability to meet government needs.
A Geo Group spokesman told NPR even before Trump returns to office It invested $70 million Toward housing, surveillance and transport migrants detainees.
Since then, the two companies have announced a nationwide addition of 6,000 beds – Texas, Ohio, Nevada, Oklahoma, Mississippi, New Jersey and Michigan among others. This includes reopening of ancient prisons and prisons, e.g. Delaney Hall Facilities NJ Corecivic owned by Geo Group in Newark Prepare many idle facilities Quickly available, although some communities have Strongly oppose these plans.
Immigration rights advocates raise concerns about the conditions of detention centers operated by private prison companies.
"By definition, a for-profit company is trying to make money throughout the process. That means if money can be saved anywhere, they will be going."
St. John said her clients, many of whom are in facilities operated by Corecivic, saw worsening conditions because the higher the number of people detained, including medical negligence and the lack of adequate food for the detainees.
Corecivic spokesman Brian Todd dismissed the allegations in a statement saying the company complies with all ICE standards.
“We have a long-term, zero-tolerance policy that does not advocate or oppose any legislation that acts or determines the duration of individual detention,” Todd said. “Our responsibility is to take care of everyone respectfully and humanely when they are given due legal due process.”
Todd added that CoreCivic operates its facilities “through extensive supervision.” But, in March, the Trump administration Completely cut To supervisory bodies that monitor immigration detention.
GEO Group spokesman Christopher Ferreira said in a statement that criticism of private contractors’ main interest in profits was unfounded and “is a long-standing politically motivated and radical campaign to eliminate ice and end federal immigration detentions and attack federal immigration agency contractors.”
ICE did not respond to NPR's request for comment.
Local police departments (usually county sheriffs) also play a greater role in immigration detention and law enforcement than in the past. One approach is the federal 287G program, which allows local police agencies to work with ICE.
According to specific details of the police agency’s agreement with the ICE, the program allows local police officers to handle immigration cases for those currently in prison. Other times, it allows local police to enforce certain aspects on behalf of the federal government outside the community, essentially increasing immigration enforcement staff without hiring other staff.
more than 600 law enforcement agencies The 287G plan has been signed in 40 states, dozens of which are pending, almost equivalent to Five times Just like the end of 2024. Florida is Requires all 67 sheriff's offices State Participated in State and Bills that require Texas sheriff Now, on the desk of Governor Greg Abbott, they run the prison.
"It's simply surprising," said Austin Kocher, a research professor at Syracuse University.
The long-term criticism of the 287g plan is Build any trust between law enforcement agencies and communities They rely on work. Cossell said the plan could have other unexpected consequences for local communities.
"This greatly distorts where we place law enforcement resources. It confuses actual crimes that require policing with people in most cases, just live here, work here and have a family," he said. "The law enforcement agency has no unlimited resources, no unlimited beds."
More human migration means less human resources to ensure the safety of the community, Cocher said. It is important to remember that people held on the ice are in civil, not criminal detention centers, he said. Nearly half of the people are currently detained by Ice No criminal record.
Ice Detention is Currently funded $3.4 billion, but members of Congress proposed to increase that number by more than tenfold. Republican giant Megabill distribution through houses in late May $45 billion in ice detention. It now heads to the Senate.
But detention is not the final game for the government. Deportation is.
"Yes, yes, they want to detain as many people as possible," said Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst at the Immigration Policy Institute. "In fact, what they want is to detain as few people as possible and to detain the minimum number of people needed to perform these mass deportations."
She said that as the government rushes to achieve its deportation goal, many will continue to be swept through the system — not only people living in the country without legal status, but immigrants who use visas or green cards here, or even U.S. citizens.
“We must establish a link between increasing law enforcement and violations of everyone’s rights,” she said.