Forum Publications
S. 744 - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act
April 24, 2013
This document briefly highlights the provisions of the Senate immigration reform bill, introduced on April 17.
Summaries of Recent Reports on Immigration Detention
October 05, 2012
This document summarizes a number of reports that have been issued by a range of groups about various aspects of the immigration detention system at the national and regional level, including (among others) conditions of detention, needed reforms, the role of the private prison industry, and detention as it pertains to particular populations.
Operation Streamline: Unproven Benefits Outweighed by Cost to Taxpayers
September 12, 2012
This paper examines Operation Streamline, an immigration enforcement program along the Southwest border in which persons caught crossing the border illegally are prosecuted criminally rather than through the immigration courts. The paper details the enormous cost of running this program, and its impact on the criminal justice system’s ability to prosecute more serious crimes. For all its costs and impact on the criminal justice system, the program has never been evaluated for...
The Math of Immigration Detention
August 21, 2012
A backgrounder examining the cost to the taxpayer of detaining immigrants, most of whom have no criminal record and who could be placed in less expensive alternatives to detention. The paper also discusses the growing role played by private prison corporations in detaining immigrants, and their political influence in maintaining policies that result in a high number of detainees. There is also a discussion of ICE’s prosecutorial discretion policy, and its potential for reducing the number of...
The President’s FY 2013 Budget: Department of Homeland Security
February 15, 2012
On February 13, 2012, the President released his Fiscal Year 2013 budget. This paper contains a summary of the immigration-related items in the budget of the Department of Homeland Security.
FY 2012 Homeland Security Appropriations
January 25, 2012
A brief summary of the immigration-related components of the Fiscal Year 2012 budget for the Department of Homeland Security, including appropriations allocated for Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Immigrants Behind Bars: How, Why, and How Much?
March 25, 2011
This paper presents an in-depth look at the ways that immigrants end up in local custody and are held in detention on the basis of their immigration status. It also looks at the fiscal impact to local entities of keeping immigrants detained for the federal government.
Quick Information on Immigration Detainers
March 16, 2011
This backgrounder explains an immigration detainer (issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requesting a law enforcement entity to hold an individual that ICE is interested in), lists problems associated with detainers, and reviews civil rights lawsuits that have been filed in response to the abuse of detainers.
