The Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are responsible for ensuring that immigrants who are detained are provided safe and human conditions of confinement while their cases are in immigration proceedings or are awaiting deportation to their home countries. Due to an increase in Detention and Removal proceedings since the 1990s, it quickly became clear that oversight was needed to ensure that immigrant detention was meeting the needs of detainees and facility personnel along with maintaining a safe and humane environment. As a result, 36 national Detention Standards were introduced.
The Detention Operations Manual identifies a minimum level of custody conditions acceptable to ICE. The primary purpose is to have uniformity in treatment of detainees and the conditions of their confinement. However, despite these basic requirements, they are not legally enforceable, unlike the standards for criminal detainees. As a result, many detainees are unable to win their cases due to these obstacles, such as a lack of phones, access to legal counsel, and basic legal materials. In addition, recent reports have cited widespread problems with medical treatment provided to detainees and deaths that have resulted from improper detention conditions.
On January 11, 2008, ICE posted 37 new detention standards, including the first-ever federal standards for immigrant women and children held in detention. You can read more on the Family Residential Standards here.
