Research and analysis exposing the inhumane immigration detention system.
The widespread use of local lockup quotas throughout the immigration detention system was exposed in DWN and CCR’s report, Banking on Detention: Local Lockup Quotas and the Immigrant Dragnet, in June 2015. Since then, the government has released additional documents that shed light on the continued use of local lockup quotas, covering at least 24 detention facility contracts. This report update includes uncovering local quotas at family detention centers.
This report identifies the use of local “lockup” quotas, referred to as guaranteed minimums in detention facility contracts, in at least half of ICE’s field offices. These contractual provisions obligate ICE to pay for a minimum number of immigration detention beds that they are encouraged to not only fill, but exceed. As a result, local “lockup” quotas serve as a tax-payer funded insurance policy for private prison corporations. The report draws on information obtained from a FOIA request filed in November 2013.