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NIJC has a new Chicago address at 111 W. Jackson Blvd, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60604 and a new email domain at @immigrantjustice.org.

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Contact NIJC Communications Director Tara Tidwell Cullen at (312) 833-2967 or by email.

Statement by Mary Meg McCarthy, Executive Director, National Immigrant Justice Center

Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) urges the government to reconsider its approach to detention and expand its use of humane and cost-effective alternatives to detention (ATD) programs following the Washington, D.C., district court’s decision to halt the Obama administration’s policy of denying reasonable bonds to Central American mothers and children.

The federal court’s ruling responds to a December class action lawsuit filed on behalf of these mothers and children who were denied reasonable bonds and detained indefinitely by the U.S. government when they came to the U.S. seeking protection from persecution.  According to the decision, the most lawful way to determine if an individual should be held in immigration custody is to assess each individual to determine if she poses a danger or is a flight risk. Particularly for asylum seekers who pass an initial protection screening, release on parole, a reasonable bond, or an ATD program is more humane and cost-efficient.

The administration’s fiscal year 2016 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security substantially increases its ATD funding by more than 30 percent (approximately $30 million), a welcome step if it is used to reduce the detention  population. ATDs allow individuals to live with family, consult attorneys, and prepare their asylum cases. The government could reduce its detention costs by 80 percent by placing individuals on ATDs rather than detaining them in expensive facilities.

The D.C. judge’s ruling upholds the fundamentals of due process:  the decision to deprive an individual of his or her liberty should be based on the law and a person’s individual circumstances, not political expediency.