DHS to Review Use of Private Prisons for ICE Detention Centers

The Department of Homeland Security is reviewing whether or not to continue to use private prison operators to run immigration and customs enforcement’s immigration detention centers.

In a statement released Tuesday, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said that he had directed the Homeland Security Advisory Council to establish a subcommittee to review current policies regarding the use of private prisons and “consider all factors concerning ICE’s detention policy and practice, including fiscal considerations.” ICE is a major federal client for private prison companies, reports ABC News.

The move comes 11 days after the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the Justice Department announced its plans to eventually stop using private facilities and operators to house federal prisoners, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A memo from Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates regarding the change stated that private prisons “simply to not provide the same level of correctional services, programs and resources” as government-run institutions, adding that private prisons do not save the government substantially on costs, and that the Bureau of Prisons’ rehabilitative services, including job training and educational programs, have proven difficult to replicate.

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