Immigration detention in the United States has become “big business,” and it continues to grow. Over 71% of the billions of dollars in annual government funding for immigration detention goes to private prison companies.
Money, rather than humane treatment, is the bottom line for these companies, and the standards for conditions in the immigration detention system are complex and difficult to enforce. The result leaves asylum-seekers with very few rights and little recourse, but LIRS has programs in place to support these individuals both during and after detention.