Jeh C. Johnson, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, called for a number of reforms in how the agency detains undocumented immigrant families in an effort to cut down on the length they’re held.
Detained immigrant children line up in the cafeteria at the Karnes County Residential Center in Texas.
Eric Gay / AP
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh C. Johnson on Wednesday called for "substantial changes" in how undocumented immigrant families are detained, saying prolonged incarceration is an inefficient use of the government's resources.
"We must make substantial changes in our detention practices with respect to families with children," Johnson said in a statement. "Once a family has established eligibility for asylum or other relief under our laws, long-term detention is an inefficient use of our resources and should be discontinued."
BuzzFeed News previously reported that lawmakers who toured facilities in Texas called for a closure of family detention centers and met with Johnson Tuesday night.
Human rights activists and detained immigrants have long protested living conditions inside some of the centers, the amount of time detainees are kept in custody, and the remoteness of the facilities.
Johnson said the Department of Homeland Security would offer "monetary bond or other condition of release" to detained families who successfully make a case for ear of persecution at home. At the same time, those who don't ask for relief will be deported promptly as part of the changes.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services was also directed to conduct asylum interviews within a reasonable timeframe, during which families will be told about their rights and responsibilities in the immigration system.
Last year, a surge of Central American children, some of them accompanied by their parents, started showing up on the U.S. border, many of them fleeing violence and poverty back home.
Royce Murray, director of policy for the National Immigrant Justice Center, told BuzzFeed News they were encouraged by the reforms, but maintained that there was a lot of work left to be done.
"It will address prolonged detention," Murray said. "But it still allows for detention of family and its hard to celebrate that, even though we welcome the changes."
Murray was also glad that the DHS said it would take a detainee's ability to pay a bond into account. She estimated that there are currently about 2,670 immigrants being held in three family detention centers in the U.S. — two in Texas and a smaller one in Pennsylvania.
"Asylum seekers have no real place in detention," Murray said.
LINK: Undocumented Immigrant Families Protest Conditions At Detention Facility During Congressional Tour
LINK: Mexico Deports Record Number Of Unaccompanied Central American Children
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