At the same time, his administration has stopped using one of three family detention centres to hold parents and children and left almost 2,000 beds unused at the other two. Immigrant advocates accuse the administration of closing off family detention to further the perception of a crisis. The number of border crossings in one day sometimes exceeds ICE’s total family detention space. They say the government has reduced family detention space for political reasons — to show that Democrats’ refusal to change laws to allow for longer family detention and more deportations has left officials with no choice but to catch and release. The group says subtle policy changes at the facility have reduced legal access for detained women seeking asylum.

Source: National Post April 19, 2019 16:37 UTC