Why Do We Waste Millions on Ineffective Immigration Programs?

The ACLU is urging the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the "Super Committee'") to cut funding for three immigration programs that are rife with civil rights abuses and lacking in meaningful oversight.

They are:

• 287(g)--This program, created by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), deputizes state and local police to enforce immigration laws.  According to a Government Accountability Office report, the program lacks key internal controls and performance objectives.  Despite these systemic problems, funding has increased dramatically to total $250 million over the past 6 years.
   
• Secure Communities (S-Comm)--No government oversight, no public accountability and civil rights and due process violations that add up to $750 million of badly spent tax dollars over the past three years.
   
• Detention of immigration detainees by DHS--Immigrants that pose no risk to public safety, have no criminal record and pose no flight risk are locked up as if they were felons for $122 a day.  These are the people that comprise a staggering detainee population of 363,000.  Smart alternatives cost between 30 cents and $14 a day.

At a time when the U.S. can ill afford to waste money, it's unconscionable these programs continue to receive millions in funding.

Joanne Lin at the ACLU Washington Legislative Office covers this in detail on the ACLU Blog of Rights.