detention center
Last updatedDefinition
Detention centers, or immigrant detention centers, are facilities used to detain immigrants. Some detention centers are dedicated facilities, and others are located inside federal or state prisons.
Considering that migrants undergo the same processes and treatment as incarcerated individuals in prisons, some migrant rights groups prefer to call such centers “immigrant prisons and jails.”
Immigrant detention centers are largely overseen by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and some estimates suggest more than 70 percent of detainees are held in facilities run by private prison contractors. The two largest private prison corporations in America are CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporations of America) and the GEO Group.
Additional references
- ‘Immigrant Detention Center’ Is Just a Nice Way to Say ‘Prison’ (Splinter)
- How for-profit prison corporations shape immigrant detention and deportation policies (American Friends Service Committee)
- Detention by the numbers (Freedom for Immigrants)
- The Corrections Corporation of America, by the Numbers (Mother Jones)
Summary
A detention center, or immigrant detention center, is a facility used to hold immigrants in custody. In the US, these are largely overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They are often identical to prisons in their form and processes; some migrant rights groups prefer to call such centers “immigrant prisons and jails.”