Ted Deutch: “This amendment would strike the provision in H.R. 2217, which states: Funding made available under this heading shall…”

“This amendment would strike the provision in H.R. 2217, which states: Funding made available under this heading shall maintain a level of not less than 34,000 detention beds through September 30, 2014. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has interpreted this provision, which has been in past appropriations bills, to require the maintenance of a daily detention population of 34,000 people. This detention bed mandate ties the hands of ICE and restricts its discretion to make detention decisions even when release could be appropriate. Indeed, this is an unprecedented mandate for law enforcement as no other law enforcement agencies have a quota for the number of people that they must keep in jail. This detention bed mandate is a drain on ICE's limited resources. On March 19 of this year, I participated in a Judiciary Committee oversight hearing with ICE Director John Morton that addressed this issue. Director Morton explained that ICE had interpreted language in the previous continuing resolution as requiring the agency to keep ``a yearly average daily population of approximately 34,000 individuals.'' Accordingly, ICE has been maintaining an average daily detention population well over 34,000 people with the numbers fluctuating between 35,000 and 37,000 people. Due to this fiscally unsustainable mandate, ICE released more than 2,000 individuals earlier this year to avoid burning through its detention funds.…”