Assistant Secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Julie Myers has indicated that the agency is preparing to issue new "performance-based" detention standards. Unlike the current detention standards, which were developed in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, the new standards were developed by the agency alone and their content is still uncertain. 

Newspapers this week reported four deaths in less than one month in the U.S. immigration detention centers. As members of Congress vote to spend tax money to add thousands more immigration detention beds, news about the government's failure to properly care for the current detention population is troubling.

The Washington Post reported on three of the deaths: