Ted Deutch Looks to End Quotas at For-Profit Illegal Immigrant Detention Centers

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., brought out the “Protecting Taxpayers and Communities from Local Detention Quotas Act.” The bill stops the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from getting “ into contracts that provide specific detention centers with prepaid, guaranteed numbers of detainees each day.” Deutch pointed to reports that at least 15 for-profit detention centers with ICE contracts have quotas. 

“The use of guaranteed minimums in detention center contracts incentivizes ICE to incarcerate as many immigrants as possible at a great cost to taxpayers and to communities,” Deutch said on Thursday. “Congress could save taxpayers nearly $15 billion over the next decade by ending the federal bed mandate and embracing alternatives to detention that are equally effective and far more humane at a fraction of the cost. As we continue efforts to end the misguided policy of mandatory detention, we must take action now to prevent ICE from signing contracts that institute new bed quotas at the local level." 

Deutch has U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., and U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., as co-sponsors. the bill was sent over to the Judiciary Committee.