Issues Within ICE
Abigale, Undergraduate Student (UM-Dearborn) By now it is clear to see that the criminal justice and immigration systems in America needs to be reformed. The systemic racism flows from the government into law enforcement and more specifically, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Border patrol and ICE officers are poorly trained and lack transparency in their work. The process of how they detain and deport people is unlawful and goes against what America’s values are. Constitutional rights are ignored and officers are not being held accountable. The United State’s immigration enforcement system is outdated. It is time for a new system with integrity that respects the law. The poor treatment of people by immigration enforcement is heightened by the absence of transparency and outdated training in the departments. Detainees and inmates also cannot hold officers accountable because of the deficient complaint systems. The right to file a complaint about negligent behavior is “largely unknown to jail inmates, is not confidential, and does not protect them from retaliation" (National Immigration Law Center 2019). Inmates are not going to complain and change will not be made if the system is not confidential and they can be harmed by doing so. Being unaware that you can complain about abuse causes a toxic environment where detainees constantly have to live in fear. It is also common for officers to lose track of undocumented immigrants because of their need for additional training. A long-time Immigration attorney says that “Training is an issue in the agency. Deportation policies and procedures are outdated and unclear. Per ICE staff, deportation officers don't get enough training to help them supervise and deport non-detained undocumented immigrants" (Iliopoulos 2017). It should be unacceptable for there to be a lack of training for personnel responsible for the lives of other humans. Especially in times where people still discriminate on the basis of skin color and national origin. On a constitutional level, ICE does not follow the law of the land. Undocumented people’s human rights are infringed on on a regular basis and the ICE agency refuses congressional oversight “In the instances where Congress has attempted to intervene and provide some much-needed oversight of ICE’s detention operations, ICE has been largely non-compliant or evasive" (Mary Small and Heidi Altman, 2018). It is suspicious that ICE will not comply with oversight. If they were confident that they were not doing anything wrong, they would have no problem with it. Undocumented people stuck in the system are not guaranteed due process of law or any constitutional rights they should have access to. Unchecked departments that are not held accountable for their actions cause an environment of human rights violations and abuse. Most detainees do not have the right to a fair hearing or due process protections. Another issue is that undocumented people do not have equal protection from discrimination based on race and national origin. The void of equal protection produces racial profiling and the use of excessive force against immigrants. Knowing that the immigration system in America is so outdated and unlawful, there have been many opportunities and reasons for policy change. The Trump administration failed to make any positive changes to the system in their four years. Congress should immediately increase oversight of detention centers and mandate regular inspections. Training should be updated and increased to match the current immigration demand. Officers should be held accountable for their actions and complaint systems should be created to make sure of this. There is a lot of work to be done so congress should start as soon as possible to make conditions better for immigrants. References: 1. Anon. 2019. “How ICE Uses Local Criminal Justice Systems to Funnel People Into the Detention and Deportation System.” National Immigration Law Center. Retrieved March 18, 2021 (https://www.nilc.org/issues/immigration-enforcement/localjusticeandice/). 2. Iliopoulos, Mike. 2017. “Audit: ICE Officers Lack Training, Lose Track of Undocumented Immigrants.” Denver News. Retrieved March 18, 2021 (https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/audit-ice-officers-lack-training-lose-t rack-of-undocumented-immigrants). 3. Small, Mary and Heidi Altman. 2018. “ICE Lies: Public Deception, Private Profit.” Detention Watch Network. Retrieved March 19, 2021 (https://immigrantjustice.org/sites/default/files/content-type/research-item/documents/2018 -02/IceLies_DWN_NIJC_Feb2018.pdf).
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