According to a column in the Minnesota Daily, the number of asylum seekers who are detained by the U.S. government has increased dramatically in the last 10 years.  I have some questions about the statistics cited in the article, which states:

Ten years ago, the number of detained asylum seekers in the United States was 10,000. By 2009, the number had reached 400,000, according to Michele Garnett McKenzie, legal counsel for the Advocates for Human Rights…. Why the number has reached such a height is difficult for experts to explain. However, they do tend to hold responsible the existing “flawed U.S. policies that have led to the extended detention of asylum seekers….”

The 400,000 figure likely represents all detained immigrants, not just detained asylum seekers.  Detention Watch Network, (“DWN”) which tracks detained immigrants, states that 440,000 aliens were detained at the end of 2009, three times as many as were detained 10 years ago.  A 2009 report from Human Rights First indicates that there are about 10,000 new asylum seekers detained each year.  A link to that report is available here. 

The figures indicate a significant increase in the number of detained aliens.  According to ICE, “Detention and removal of illegal aliens is a priority of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”  Information on many of the various detention facilities is available on the ICE website. 

Conditions in the various detention facilities vary.  The ACLU has studied conditions in Massachusetts, and has issued a report: Detention and Deportation in the Age of ICE.  Documented problems include inadequate medical care, harassment, and overcrowding.  According to DWN, since 2003, “there have been at least 90 reported deaths in immigration detention.”  “Many of these deaths have been caused by a lack of timely and thorough medical care, and nearly one fifth of them have been suicides.”  Mental health concerns would be particularly acute for detained asylum seekers.  The recently introduced Refugee Protection Act would help to alleviate some of the problems faced by detained asylum seekers.

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From the Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center:

Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center and 30 other national and international immigrant and human rights organizations, think tanks, and academics have petitioned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue regulations allowing the release of detained asylum seekers who pose no danger to the community and would face persecution if returned to their home countries.

According to the report, in 2006, “of the 5,761 asylum seekers who were detained, 1,559 (27%) were detained for more than 180 days.”  The report continues: “On average, arriving aliens who eventually obtain asylum spend 10 months in detention.”  The report discusses the mental and physical effects of detention on asylum seekers, and also notes that the cost of detaining asylum seekers averages $95 per person per day–from 2003 to 2009, we spent more than $300 million to detain asylum seekers.  The report recommends regulatory changes to allow more detained asylum seekers to be released prior to their final hearings. 

As usual, this problem is also a question of the asylum seeker’s financial situation and access to counsel.  Represented asylum seekers who are eligible for release (and who can afford to pay the bond) will almost always be released in a month or two.  The poorest and most vulnerable asylum seekers are the most likely to remain detained.  Case in point: I received a call today from a woman whose sister was threatened by gang members in El Salvador.  She fled the country, crossed the border illegally, and was detained.  She is currently being held in Eloy, Arizona, and has already made a claim for asylum.  The sister is looking for an attorney in Arizona to prepare an application for bond.  I referred her to the Florence Project, an excellent legal services organization that assists immigrants detained in Arizona.  If the woman can secure a bond, the chances of her asylum claim succeeding will be much improved.  If she remains detained, she will have to prepare her case and gather evidence–such as letters from witnesses, police reports, and medical reports–from behind bars.  Under those circumstances, I imagine the chances for her to succeed are pretty slim.

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