Detaining Immigrants for Profit
Domanik, Undergraduate Student (UM-Dearborn) Here in the United States we have a problem. This problem is known as the prison industrial complex, or the accelerated use of incarceration and exponential increase of our U.S prison population. With the recent increase in legislation targeting immigration in our government, mass incarceration has also been the main solution to dealing with undocumented immigrants. Detention centers and jails have been piling up as they hold suspected illegal immigrants there to wait for trial and often deportation. The current system of incarceration is overall an inefficient and poor solution to the complex issue of immigration and needs reform. Not only is it harmful to the individuals who have to be detained in several ways, but it is also not cost effective and leads to poorly made facilities. Diving a bit deeper into the issue, one thing that contributes to the overall poor quality of these detention centers is the privatization of detainment facilities across the country. Privatization has been happening in the criminal justice system for quite a while, in terms of incarceration. Private companies end up creating a contract with the government so they can run the facilities. This creates multiple down sides. The main downside is that most private companies first priority is to make money. This leaves facilities hiring poorly trained staff, having insufficient resources, and poor access to health care in order to maximize profit. Another reason why incarceration of immigrants in detention centers is an inappropriate solution is the psychosocial and other harmful effects they can have on the occupants. Incarceration in general carries with it more of a chance for the development of substance abuse and mental health issues. The poor condition of the facilities as well as occasional abuse that goes on are definitely factors that do not help. Many immigrants who are coming to the U.S are even more at risk, because they have already experienced at least some form of trauma. This is due to the fact that many immigrants are women and children who are leaving their country of origin, because of violence. Drug induced violence, gang violence, and wars are some of the main reasons, all possible trauma inducing environments to be in. Overall, people agree that immigration policies need reform. What is not agreed upon is how to fix it. A solution to this complex problem is pretty hard to come up with considering there are so many directions one could go. For instance, if you are an individual who believes that detention centers are the best way to handle immigrants crossing the borders illegally then we must decide a better way to handle the detention of these immigrants. How do we fix the poor quality facilities? How do we make sure all of the right health resources are provided? Not being able to be around your family, especially those who come from collectivist cultures can be extremely stressing as well. A possible solution that was suggested by DeLaPerriere (2020) was electronic monitoring. This would allow immigrants to be home with their family while they are awaiting trial. This would also avoid the incriminating feeling of being locked up, especially considering that held in these detention centers are documented and undocumented individuals alike. It is also more cost effective and allows the immigrants to be in a better environment in general with access to basic human necessities. There is of course the argument that incarceration should not be something undocumented immigrants are subjected to at all. After all, crossing borders illegally is not an offense that technically should be able to be punished by incarceration. The violation is a simple civil infraction which is similar to a speeding ticket in terms of level of offense. A possible solution that goes down this road of logic could be creating a system in which undocumented immigrants caught will be on a parole of sorts were a parole officer keeps an eye on them for a certain amount of time to make sure that they are a contributing factor to our society. Meaning that they get a job, pay taxes, and do not get involved in crime. In this scenario proper resources could also be given to immigrants to help them better live life here in the U.S. This could be community centers that focus on teaching english, basic career skills, or help provide short term financial assistance. The solutions offered here are only two of possible thousands that could be created. Of course some are better than others and even then we must somewhat agree on a solution which will be hard given how subjective the situation of immigration can be. What is certain, however, is that in order to make any improvements in this issue in our criminal justice system we must work together as a nation. After all this is a national problem. It will be difficult to agree on what to do, but something needs to be done. Immigrants here in the U.S. are people too and deserve better treatment then what they are currently being given. Our own indecisiveness on what to do on this topic is not only hurting the immigrants who want asylum and a better life for them and their families, but Americans who are often caught up in the crossfire that this situation causes. References
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