Immigration Detention Dystem Changes Announced by Secretary Napolitano
IMMIGRATION REPORTS
New Bedford Standard Times
Burcu Karakas
Boston University Washington News Service
October 06, 2009
WASHINGTON – New initiatives to enhance the security and efficiency of the immigration detention system were introduced by Department of Homeland Security officials Tuesday.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the aim was to “update the entire immigration system.”
John Morton, the assistant secretary for immigration and customs enforcement, said the department wants to create an “efficient and effective detention system.”
The management of all Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts will be centralized and the department will accelerate efforts to create an online system for families and attorneys to locate detainees, Napolitano said.
She also said medical care in every facility will be enhanced from the time the individual first enters detention. Morton said the changes are not based on individual cases of detainee abuse but rather focused on the entire detention system.
The department plans to submit to Congress this year a plan for alternatives to detention.
Also released Tuesday at a conference at the Brookings Institution was a report on immigration reform, prepared as a joint project of Brookings and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University.
The report, t “Breaking the Immigration Stalemate: From Deep Disagreements to Constructive Proposals,” proposes to reduce illegal immigration by linking workplace verification and legalization, reorient immigrant admissions criteria, rationalize temporary worker programs, establish an independent standing commission on immigration, engage cooperation with Mexico and promote assimilation and integration of new immigrants.
Noah Pickus, director of the Kenan Institute, focused on the importance of a “more intentional policy” in the integration process of immigrants.
“We don’t have any intentionality behind our policies,” he said. Pickus said values and principles should be used to connect immigrants to American history and create a commitment to American values.
Peter Skerry, a senior fellow at Brookings and a professor of political science at Boston College, emphasized the significance of “employment-based immigration,” which would limit the current family-sponsored immigration. He said 5 million people are waiting now to join their relatives as a result of the current system. This number can be reduced to 6,000, he said, by focusing on “nuclear family unification.”
Skerry said the report suggests changing temporary visas to non-renewable, five-year provisional visas, which would give immigrants the option of achieving permanent status.
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