Greater than 100 Home Democrats despatched a letter to the Biden administration on Thursday calling on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to droop detention growth, section out personal for-profit amenities, and conduct a evaluation of all ICE detention amenities.

The letter, which is led by Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Raul Grijalva and Jason Crow, states that after the White Home Government Order ending privately operated prisons, members of Congress referred to as for President Joe Biden to develop the order to incorporate ICE detention, however "it seems that ICE is transferring in the other way."

It cites a September 29 ICE contract to detain as much as 1,875 immigrants on the GEO Group-operated Moshannon Valley Correctional Heart in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania and growth of the Pennsylvania Berks County ICE detention heart to be used as an grownup facility for girls.

The Democrats additionally mentioned they're involved that the personal jail firm CoreCivic could also be seeking to ICE to take over an expiring U.S. Marshals Companies contract with the West Tennessee Detention Facility.

"These amenities all have a long-documented historical past of substandard circumstances and abuse," the lawmakers wrote. "These actions are being taken, at taxpayer expense, with out justification for the ensuing improve."

In statements and interviews with Newsweek, Democrats argued that the for-profit nature of the immigration detention system is harmful and a purpose the system is described by each events as damaged.

"It is clear that for-profit detention facilities are a breeding floor for rampant and unchecked mistreatment," Jayapal mentioned. "They're inherently motivated to chop corners and deal with folks poorly within the identify of accelerating income."

"The system is damaged," she added. "Immigrants deserve compassion and their primary human rights and dignity protected."

Whereas Jayapal mentioned the for-profit detention system have to be eradicated, Grijalva tied it to the shortage of success administrations have had on passing long-proposed complete immigration reform options.

"The correlation is there," Grijalva mentioned. "It signifies essentially the most intense lobbying towards immigration reform. It is of their greatest curiosity; a excessive mattress depend is of their greatest curiosity."

He was referring to a detention mattress mandate requiring ICE to keep up roughly 34,000 beds day by day. Legislators, not legislation enforcement, determine the variety of beds.

The letter from lawmakers states that a January 2021 Authorities Accountability Workplace report documented wasteful spending ensuing from the numerous bounce within the variety of beds ICE agreed to in detention contracts signed in the course of the Trump administration.

It additionally mentioned the DHS Workplace of the Inspector Common launched a report in September 2021 on violations of ICE detention requirements within the Otay Mesa facility, recommending that ICE evaluation its contracting choices to raised determine housing necessities and decide if assured minimums had been vital.

ICE, the letter states, refused to concur with that advice.

Ali Noorani, the manager director of the Nationwide Immigration Discussion board, a bunch that advocates for immigration reform by way of bipartisan outreach, mentioned the letter from Democrats didn't come as a shock in gentle of early and shocking choices made by the White Home.

"In the course of the course of the primary couple months of the administration, it was fairly evident that the president mentioned he was going to get personal prisons out of the federal jail system however not out of immigration detention," he advised Newsweek.

"The administration has to clarify why they determined to maintain working with personal jail corporations or make that change," Noorani mentioned.

The lawmakers concluded their letter by asking for additional data on pending detention contracts and an replace on the already introduced DHS detention evaluation course of by April 10.

Consultant Grijalva, the longtime progressive Arizona lawmaker, mentioned the Biden administration has made different errors in immigration coverage, like sustaining using Title 42, which permits immigrants to be expelled on the border utilizing public well being reasoning associated to the pandemic.

"It is a relic of a previous administration," Grijalva mentioned, "I do not know why it is nonetheless there."

He mentioned the response to immigration reform by the administration, which proposed a legislative package deal that stalled in Congress, "has basically been unfocused" and might be damaging to Biden within the November midterm elections.

"That is what I imply by 'unfocused,'" he mentioned. "They are going to harm."

"The difficulty is how do you reply to it rationally and with a complete method on the border and safety," he added, "when the vast majority of the American individuals are on the lookout for an answer."

immigration detention border patrol
An immigrant household from Brazil arrives to a U.S. Border Patrol detention facility after strolling from the U.S.-Mexico border on December 08, 2021 by way of the town of Yuma, Arizona. U.S. Border Patrol brokers had earlier mentioned that the power was full, and had then stopped transporting migrants from the border to the middle. So some migrants walked the seven miles there on their very own and had been then taken into custody to use for asylum. John Moore/Getty Photographs