The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) has recently updated the rules governing many of the detention centers. Lawyers and rights activists of the undocumented report that the new regulation lowers the standards of care and protection of detainees, in several cases already considered insufficient, which can expose them to abuse and insecurity .
The update foresees the extension of cases in which a detainee can be placed in isolation, softens restrictions on the use of forces against detainees and reduces standards of hygiene, health care and outdoor hours, according to Texas Observer magazine stands out.
Among other changes, the agency eliminated, for example, the part of the regulation that prohibits service officials from using " ties " or restrictions on their mobility against migrants.
There were also revisions to the protocols in case of serious injuries, illness or death , such as making the guards now have to notify ICE "as soon as possible", rather than immediately, if a detainee needs to be transferred to a hospital.
The United States Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) adds that with the new rules, migrants "will also face even greater obstacles to accessing lawyers and legal materials," by softening the requirements now maintained to provide access to the services of NGOs and legal material.
The new regulation has improved some provisions to guarantee telephone access to detainees when they seek a lawyer, says ACLU. However, the complaint does not do so in the manner established between the organization and ICE in a 2016 judicial agreement.
The changes affect about 140 detention centers distributed in most states of the country, in particular prisons hired by ICE and where migrants are guarded along with other detainees.
The agency said in a document announcing the modifications to the detention rules that these are due to the "commitment" to work with its "state and local partners to enforce immigration laws" and improve public and national security.
But critics with this decision believe that private centers that collaborate with ICE will have an easier time overcoming inspections and maintaining their lucrative contracts with the agency. "The way in which the new national detention rules are structured eliminates any incentive to really provide the minimum care and supervision necessary for detainees," said Eunice Cho, an ACLU lawyer.
Migrant detention policies executed by the immigration authorities have already aroused more times the protests of activists, lawyers and political representatives.
In some detention centers - such as the one in Etowah County, Alabama, where the local sheriff pocketed $ 400,000 to buy food for the inmates while hundreds among them had almost no food - multiple abuses have been reported, recalls the Observer . Congress has repeatedly required ICE to extend standards developed in the past, higher than today, to more centers.
"The detention of immigrants is a cruel and harmful practice, which has only worsened under the Trump administration," ACLU said in a note. "We cannot allow this administration to enclose more immigrants in a system that already works so badly," the text adds.
ICE has also announced that its centers will implement new measures to deal with cases of sexual abuse or assault , in order to pursue a “zero tolerance policy” in these situations, in their words. It has also introduced adaptations for disabled detainees and improvements in language care for people with limited English proficiency.
The agency has not immediately responded to a request for comment from the Observer on all the regulatory changes. The magazine emphasizes that the changes were made public on December 19, just before Christmas, in a period of less public attention for the news.
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