ASYLUM AND REFUGEES 

 

 

 

 Report Special 

April 2013 

THE U.S. 

COMMISSION ON 

INTERNATIONAL 

RELIGIOUS 

FREEDOM 

was created by the 

International 

Religious Freedom Act 

of 1998 to monitor the 

status of freedom of 

thought, conscience, 

and religion or belief 

abroad, as defined in 

the Universal 

Declaration of Human 

Rights and related 

international 

instruments, and to 

give independent policy 

recommendations to 

the President, 

Secretary of State, 

and Congress.

732 N. Capitol St. N.W. , 

Suite A714 

Washington, D.C. 20401 

Phone: (202) 786-0613 

Communications@uscirf.gov

www.uscirf.gov 

April 2013 

Assessing the U.S. 

Government’s 

Detention of Asylum 

Seekers: 

Further Action 

Needed to Fully 

Implement Reforms 
 April 2013 Report Special 

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

In 2009, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) within the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) announced a series of immigration detention reforms designed to 

reduce the use of jails and jail-like facilities to house asylum seekers and the inconsistent 

application of parole policies to ensure that asylum seekers who pose no risk of flight or danger 

are not detained unnecessarily. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

(USCIRF) welcomed the announcement as consistent with USCIRF recommendations issued in 

its 2005 Report on Asylum Seekers in Expedited Removal (hereafter referred to as the Study)1

that would help ensure that asylum seekers subject to Expedited Removal2 are not detained 

unnecessarily or under inappropriate conditions. 

This report, based on USCIRF’s detention facility site visits and additional meetings and 

research, finds that ICE has made progress toward implementing its announced reforms. 

However, USCIRF also finds that longstanding concerns remaining unaddressed. USCIRF 

continues to recommend that the new parole process and criteria, under which most asylum 

                                                           

1 In 2003 and 2004, USCIRF conducted a major research study, as authorized by the International Religious 

Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), to examine whether asylum seekers subject to Expedited Removal were being 

detained under inappropriate conditions or being returned to countries where they might face persecution. USCIRF 

released its findings in the 2005 Report on Asylum Seekers in Expedited Removal (hereafter referred to as the Study). 

The Study found serious flaws in both the processing and detention of asylum seekers in Expedited Removal. To 

address these concerns, USCIRF issued recommendations, none of which required congressional action, to the 

relevant agencies in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ).The Study is 

available at http://www.uscirf.gov/reports-and-briefs/special-reports/1892.html.

2

 The Expedited Removal process, established by 1996 immigration reform legislation, authorizes U.S. immigration 

officials to summarily return people arriving in the United States without proper documentation to their country of 

origin. Due to concerns that that bona fide asylum seekers, who often travel without proper documents, might 

mistakenly be returned to their persecutors, Congress included provisions to prevent the Expedited Removal of 

refugees fleeing persecution. Under these provisions, asylum seekers are detained while a determination is made if 

they have a “credible fear” of persecution. If credible fear of persecution is not found, the asylum seeker is put back 

in the Expedited Removal process and removed promptly. At least five separate agencies play a role in the 

Expedited Removal process. Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection 

(CBP) first encounters aliens and identifies those subject to Expedited Removal, and from that group, those seeking 

asylum. DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is responsible for detaining asylum seekers, 

and its Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) makes the credible fear determination. For those asylum 

seekers found to have a credible fear, DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) then reviews the 

asylum claims; immigration judges (IJs) hear the cases, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) reviews any 

appeals. With so many agencies and immigration officers involved in so many locations, coordination has been and 

remains a major challenge within DHS and between DHS and DOJ. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, the U.S. government 

deported 123,000 individuals through Expedited Removal. 

USCIRF finds that while ICE has made progress toward implementing the reforms it announced 

in 2009, the U.S. government continues to detain asylum seekers under inappropriate conditions 

in jails and jail-like facilities. The number of years between the announcement of new policies 

and comprehensive implementation has hindered its efforts. There is a need to codify into 

regulations the announced parole process and criteria, under which most asylum seekers found to 

have credible fear of persecution are paroled rather than detained. More needs to be done to 

ensure that, when their detention is necessary, asylum seekers are housed only in civil facilities. 

In addition, USCIRF finds that further improvements are needed to expand detainees’ access to 

legal information, representation, and in-person hearings. 

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 April 2013 Report Special 

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

seekers found to have credible fear of persecution are paroled rather than detained, be codified 

into regulations. While USCIRF welcomes ICE’s establishment of civil detention facilities to 

house asylum seekers and other low level immigrant detainees, the Commission remains 

concerned that some asylum seekers are still not being held in civil facilities. USCIRF urges that 

all asylum seekers who must be detained – whether before or after a credible fear determination 

– be held in civil facilities. In addition, USCIRF finds that further improvements are needed to 

expand detainees’ access to legal information, representation, and in-person hearings. 

REFORMS OF DETENTION CONDITIONS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS

The 2005 USCIRF Study found that the overwhelming majority of asylum seekers detained 

before their credible fear interview, and even after being found to have a credible fear, were 

detained under inappropriate conditions, in penal or jail-like facilities. Penal detention 

conditions risk re-traumatizing asylum seekers, and may lead some to prematurely terminate 

their asylum applications and return to their countries of origin, despite having credible fear. In 

some facilities, asylum seekers were living alongside U.S. citizens serving criminal sentences or 

criminal aliens, despite ICE detention standards forbidding the co-mingling of non-criminal 

detainees with criminals. In addition, the Study found asylum seekers were required to wear 

prison uniforms and were handcuffed and shackled like criminals. A 2009 internal DHS report 

into its own immigration detention system also expressed concern about the detention of asylum 

seekers under penal conditions and recommended that such detainees be held under civil 

conditions. 

To ensure that asylum seekers subject to mandatory detention per Expedited Removal are held 

under appropriate conditions, USCIRF recommended that ICE not detain non-criminal asylum 

seekers under penal conditions. It was not until October 2009 that ICE took steps to implement 

USCIRF recommendations regarding the detention of asylum seekers, announcing plans to 

develop a new immigration detention system, with facilities based on civil, not penal, models, in 

locations with access to legal services, emergency rooms, and transportation. Specifically, ICE 

announced that, within three to five years, it planned to: 

• design facilities located and operated solely for immigration detention purposes; 

• revise its immigration detention standards to reflect the conditions appropriate for various 

immigration detainee populations; 

• review its contracts with detention facilities to ensure that they comply with the new 

standards; and 

• devise a risk assessment and custody classification tool to place detainees in appropriate 

facilities. 

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 April 2013 Report Special 

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

USCIRF SITE VISITS

Between July and December 2012, USCIRF staff visited 10 detention facilities around the 

country, touring the facilities and meeting with facility officials and detainees.3

 These detention 

centers included facilities following a penal detention model, facilities being reformed, and 

facilities following a civil detention model. They also included a mix of the various types of 

facilities ICE uses to house immigration detainees – facilities run by ICE directly, facilities run 

by local governments that either hold ICE detainees exclusively or hold a mix of ICE detainees 

and other detainees, and facilities run by private corporations. The facilities selected house a 

larger proportion of asylum seekers (29 percent of their population) than all facilities nationwide 

(12 percent of the overall population) However, as noted above, asylum seekers remain in jails 

and jail-like detention centers. ICE holds detainees at approximately 250 facilities nationwide, 

and only around 4,000 of ICE’s 33,400 detention beds are in facilities appropriate to house 

asylum seekers. 

The facilities visited were: 

California

El Centro Service Processing Center, El Centro 

Otay Detention Facility, San Diego 

Mira Loma Detention Center,4

 Lancaster 

James A. Musick Facility, Irvine 

Florida

Krome Service Processing Center, Miami 

Broward Transitional Center, Pompano Beach 

New Jersey

Delaney Hall Detention Facility, Newark 

Pennsylvania

Berks Family Shelter, Leesport 

Texas 

Karnes County Civil Detention Center 

T. Don Hutto Residential Center5

 

                                                           

3

 USCIRF sincerely thanks the ICE officials in Washington DC and the various cities, as well as the detention center 

officials, who facilitated these visits, showed us the facilities, answered our questions, and provided information. USCIRF also is grateful to the 62 detainees at seven facilities who volunteered to speak with USCIRF about their 

experiences in detention and in the legal process. 

4

 In October 2012, after the USCIRF staff visit, it was announced that as of November 2012, Mira Loma would no 

longer house ICE detainees. 

5

 Krome, Broward, Otay Mesa, Mira Loma, and Berks were among the 19 facilities that the researchers surveyed 

and/or visited for the original Study. 

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 April 2013 Report Special 

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

Best Practices for Civil 

Detention Facilities 

• Replicate the physical 

structures of Karnes 

County Civil Detention 

Facility and Broward 

Transitional Center 

• Allow detainees to wear 

their own street clothes 

• Allow for 24 hour 

movement to specified 

common areas 

• Allow Internet access to 

approved sites, or use 

the American Library 

Association filtering 

guidelines 

• Utilize electronic census 

or headcounts 

• Hold regular town hall 

meetings with detainees 

• Expand recreation and 

programming activities 

CONDITIONS AT DETENTION FACILITIES

USCIRF notes ICE’s positive moves to house more asylum seekers under non-penal conditions. 

In particular, USCIRF welcomes the establishment of four civil detention facilities that house 

asylum seekers and other low level immigrant detainees. ICE opened two civil detention 

facilities, Delaney Hall Detention Facility in New Jersey and Karnes County Civil Detention 

Center in Texas (the latter of which was specifically designed and newly built for this purpose); 

moved some asylum seekers to more appropriate centers such as Broward Transitional Center in 

Florida; and instituted reforms in some existing facilities, including T. Don Hutto Residential 

Center in Texas.6 According to ICE, asylum seekers represent the majority of individuals housed 

at Berks Family Shelter (55 percent), T. Don Hutto 

Residential Center (79 percent), and Karnes County Civil 

Detention Facility (71 percent). 

Unfortunately, however, not all facilities housing asylum 

seekers are civil detention facilities. Only around 4,000 of 

ICE’s 33,400 detention beds are in civil facilities. USCIRF 

visited a number of centers where asylum seekers and other 

low level detainees were housed with medium and high level 

detainees in the same facility and where all detainees, 

including asylum seekers, continue to be detained under 

inappropriately penal conditions. ICE initially planned to 

open additional civil detention facilities, and USCIRF urges 

the agency to move forward with these plans. 

CIVIL DETENTION FACILITIES 

USCIRF visited detention facilities dedicated to low level 

detainees, including asylum seekers, such as Broward 

Transitional Center in Florida, Karnes County Civil Detention 

Center and T. Don Hutto Residential in Texas, Berks Family 

Shelter in Pennsylvania, and Delaney Hall Detention Facility 

in New Jersey. Despite differences between these facilities, 

all were noticeably less penal than those visited with mixed 

risk populations. 

Freedom of Movement: The greatest difference between 

facilities dedicated to civil detention centers housing low level 

detainees and those housing mixed populations is the greater 

freedom of movement enjoyed by detainees at civil detention 

centers. At these facilities, detainees can move, unescorted 

and relatively freely, between many areas within the facility. 

This freedom of movement allows detainees to access indoor 

and outdoor recreation areas, libraries, medical units, eating 

                                                           

6

 Before the 2009 reforms, Hutto was used to detain both families and low-level female detainees. It now houses 

only low-level female detainees. Families are now detained at Berks, in Pennsylvania. 

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 April 2013 Report Special 

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

areas, and other areas without having to walk through security fencing or centrally locked doors 

or ask a guard’s permission. These facilities still impose some restrictions, for example some 

areas remain off limits to residents without an escort and residents are require to be at specified 

locations at certain times for census or head counts. Only two facilities USCIRF visited, Karnes 

and Berks, allow less restricted movement 24 hours a day; the other facilities allow freedom of 

movement during “lights on” hours. 

Activities: The civil detention facilities also allow increased opportunities for recreation time 

and provide more extensive activities programs for detainees. At all of the civil detention 

facilities USCIRF visited, detainees can access indoor and outdoor recreation areas during 

periods allowed for freedom of movement. These areas include outdoor soccer fields or 

volleyball or basketball courts and areas for indoor activities such as television, law and leisure 

libraries, religious services and studies, and exercise, language, GED, art, life skills, or music 

classes. Two facilities allow internet access. 

Privacy: These facilities also offer detainees greater privacy. With the exception of T. Don 

Hutto Residential Center, bedrooms and common areas are in separate areas of the facilities. 

Each bedroom sleeps two to eight people, instead of the large dorm-style bedrooms of 50-100 

persons of the non-civil facilities. Additionally, private showers and toilets are either behind 

closed doors in the bedrooms or blocked by full-length privacy curtains in the common areas. 

The only exception to private bathrooms is Delaney Hall Detention Facility, where toilets and 

showers are in a dormitory-style shared bathroom, showers are open, and the toilets only have 

half-length doors. While the bathrooms at Delaney Hall are an improvement over those at noncivil detention facilities, they do not afford the same privacy detainees enjoy at other civil 

detention centers. 

Personal Freedoms: The civil detention facilities also afford greater personal freedoms to 

detainees than at other facilities. While only the Hutto and Berks facilities allow residents to 

wear street clothes, uniforms at the other civil facilities also are less penal with t-shirts and sweat 

suits being provided, as opposed to color-coded prison-like jumpsuits. At the time of USCIRF’s 

initial Study, Broward allowed detainees to wear street clothes, but this is no longer the facility’s 

policy. The low level facilities also allow for contact visits between detainees and their lawyers 

or detainees and their families. Some facilities, such as Karnes, have a children’s play area for 

family visits. 

Jail-like Configuration: Although noticeably less restrictive and providing detainees with 

greater freedoms, the civil detention facilities still maintain some penal aspects, such as 

perimeter fences, razor wire, barbed wire, or concertina coils, and locked entry doors as well as 

an extensive use of video and sound monitoring throughout the facilities. Guards still are posted 

throughout these facilities, although they wear khakis and polo shirts rather than correctional 

officer uniforms. Headcounts or census counts also occur at every facility, some as many as 

eight times daily. Living quarters also are searched, either when issues arise or are routinely 

scheduled. Finally, despite attempts to brighten up their spaces with wall murals, the enclosed 

physical structures of Hutto and Delaney Hall, with little natural light, provide a penal, not civil, 

feeling. Broward and Karnes, with housing and common rooms facing an open courtyard and a 

lot of natural light, feel less penal. 

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 April 2013 Report Special 

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

MIXED LEVEL POPULATION FACILITIES 

Despite ICE’s efforts to move all asylum seekers to more appropriate civil detention facilities, 

USCIRF found that ICE continues to house mixed level populations, including asylum seekers, 

in its detention facilities. As previously noted, the majority of asylum seekers remain detained in 

jails and jail-like facilities. These facilities are much more restrictive and penal for all detainees. 

Freedom of Movement: At non-civil detention facilities with mixed level detainees, asylum 

seekers and other low level detainees are granted little or no freedom of movement. Armed 

guards escort all detainees to different areas of the facility, whether recreation areas, medical 

units, or cafeterias. Additionally, detainees are given set and limited times for recreation, meals, 

or law library visits. In many of these facilities, outdoor recreation time for all detainees is 

limited to only one hour per day, regardless of risk level, and outdoor space is limited to a 

concrete slab outside the dorm area. Little or no programming or activities are offered. The 

facilities also have placed numerous security barriers between different areas, including centrally 

locked doors and barbed wire fencing. At one facility, Otay Detention Facility, meals are held in 

the dorm rooms. At another facility, El Centro, all detainees are subject to pat downs after 

meals. 

Privacy and Personal Freedom: Less freedom of movement at these facilities corresponds with 

less privacy and personal freedom. Detainees are assigned to open dorm-style bedrooms housing 

50 to 100 persons. Within these dorm rooms, showers and toilets are open. Other than the one 

hour recreation time outside the dorm and the specific time slots allotted for meals, visitation, 

library visits, and religious services, recreation opportunities are limited to game tables and TVs 

within the dorms. Furthermore, all detainees are required to wear prison-like jumpsuits with 

colors corresponding to their risk level: often blue for low, orange for medium, and red for high. 

However, some facilities did make efforts to distinguish different risk level populations, with 

low level detainees granted more freedom. For instance, at James Musick and Mira Loma in 

California, low level detainees are allowed to move within the facility without an escort and 

given a longer recreation time, although armed guards still monitor their activities. 

Prison-like Conditions: All of the non-civil, mixed level population facilities USCIRF visited 

are extremely secure. Perimeters are secured with fencing, razor wire, barbed wire, or concertina 

coils and multiple locked doors. Armed guards and secured doors block access to different 

facility areas, such as living rooms or cafeterias, and video and sound monitoring is used 

extensively throughout the facilities. Sleeping quarters constantly are surveilled by sound and 

sight either by guards being posted in the dorms or electronic monitoring used. Headcounts or 

census counts occur at every facility, some as many as eight times per day. Searches of living 

quarters are a common practice and pat downs also are frequent. 

DETENTION GUIDELINES

RISK CLASSIFICATION ASSESSMENT 

The Risk Classification Assessment tool (RCA) provides criteria and a scoring system to guide 

ICE officials in deciding whether an alien should be detained or released. The RCA also is used 

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 April 2013 Report Special 

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

when determining the appropriate level of community supervision if released or custody 

classification if detained. The classification system places all immigrants detained in ICE’s 

system, including asylum seekers, into one of three levels, from low to high, corresponding to 

security risks in their backgrounds. Low level detainees have no criminal backgrounds or have 

been charged with only minor offenses, whereas high level detainees have serious criminal 

charges. 

The RCA has allowed ICE to identify asylum seekers and other immigrant detainees who are 

low risk and house them under less restrictive, less penal conditions. While the RCA was rolled 

out in six phases across the country between July 2012 and January 2013, DHS does not track 

specifically where asylum seekers are detained. Asylum seekers generally are low level, 

according to ICE officials. 

DETENTION STANDARDS 

In 2011, ICE announced its new Performance Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS), a 

guidebook of rules and regulations for the detention of all immigrant populations in its control. 

The new standards, which slowly are being implemented, are an improvement over the 2008 

Performance Based National Detention Standards. They expand access to medical, mental 

health, legal, and religious services; institute an extensive complaint process; and increase 

visitation and recreation opportunities. 

Nevertheless, the new standards have not yet been fully implemented and continue to be based 

on a penal, not civil, model. ICE should develop civil detention standards to regulate asylum 

seekers and other low level immigrant detainees and civil detention facilities, rather than 

continuing to use penal-based detention standards for these populations and centers. 

SPECIAL TRAINING FOR STAFF 

USCIRF repeatedly has expressed concern about detention facility staffs’ lack of awareness of 

and training on the special needs and concerns of asylum seekers and/or victims of torture. This 

concern was reinforced during the USCIRF site investigations, as staff at only two facilities 

toured by USCIRF indicated that they had received specific training. Furthermore, they said that 

the training they did receive addressed only cultural sensitivity issues, not how to interact with 

asylum seekers and/or victims of torture. 

To address this concern, USCIRF recommends that ICE train detention center personnel to work 

with non-criminal, psychologically-vulnerable asylum seekers. In 2007, ICE and the DHS 

Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties jointly released a training module on cultural 

awareness and asylum issues for detention officers. USCIRF welcomed this module, its 

availability to all USCIS staff, and its being integrated into some CBP training programs. This 

training, however, is not mandatory for intergovernmental service agreement (IGSA) staff, who 

work at facilities where more than 50 percent of asylum seekers are held. USCIRF also 

welcomes the more specialized training ICE provides to on-site Detention Monitors, including 

curricula on Asylum Seekers in Detention and on interacting with culturally- and religiously7
 April 2013 Report Special 

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

Best Practices to 

Educate Asylum 

Seekers on their Legal 

Rights 

• Mandatory, in 

person Know Your 

Rights Presentations 

• Mandatory, in 

person meetings 

with Legal 

Orientation Program 

representatives 

diverse populations and victimized populations. This training should be expanded to include all 

ICE and contract officers who interact with detainees. 

LEGAL PROCESS ISSUES 

LOCATION AND ACCESS TO REPRESENTATION 

The rural locations of many of the facilities where asylum seekers are detained continue to make 

it very difficult, as a practical matter, for individuals to obtain legal advice. Of the civil 

detention facilities USCIRF visited, most are in remote areas, with the Broward Transitional 

Center and Delaney Hall Detention Facility close to Miami and 

Newark/New York being exceptions. Karnes County Civil 

Detention Center, the new, purpose-built civil facility, is an hour’s 

drive from San Antonio. Several of the mixed-level facilities are 

particularly far; El Centro Service Processing Center, for example, 

is a two hours’ drive from San Diego. According to the NGO 

Human Rights First, 40 percent of ICE’s current bed space is more 

than 60 miles away from an urban center. It is critical that DHS 

and DOJ work together to ensure detained aliens in Expedited 

Removal, including those who have not had a credible fear 

determination, have access to legal service providers.7

 

Very few of the detained asylum seekers with whom USCIRF met 

when visiting facilities were represented by counsel, and many 

complained that they did not understand the complex immigration 

law and process. Lack of counsel not only disadvantages the 

detainees but also burdens the system, since unrepresented cases 

are more difficult and time consuming for adjudicators to decide. 

REMOTE HEARINGS 

Remote locations and a shortage of immigration judges mean that more hearings, including 

merits hearings, are now being conducted by video teleconference (VTC), not in person. This 

raises fair-hearing and effective-representation concerns. With the judge and lawyers in one 

place and the asylum seeker in another, both the assessment of credibility and lawyer-client 

consultations are made more difficult. Karnes was built with an in-house courtroom, but it is not 

being used due to the distance from major cities. Conversely, a VTC is used for hearings at 

Delaney Hall, despite its urban location in New Jersey. 

Similarly, overburdened asylum officers and long distances to detention facilities delay credible 

fear interviews and lead to more such interviews being done by phone or VTC. Credible fear 

interviews are required to occur within 10 days to two weeks, but as of June 2012, according to 

                                                           

7

 Asylum seekers represented by pro bono attorneys are granted asylum at higher rates than unrepresented asylum 

seekers. Furthermore, increasing the availability of pro bono legal services for the credible fear process not only 

provides detained asylum seekers with legal advice, but also improves efficiency and reduces detention costs by 

increasing the number of asylum seekers who chose not to pursue their claims after consultation with counsel. 

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 April 2013 Report Special 

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

ICE, it was taking three months at Karnes. By USCIRF’s August visit to Karnes, however, this 

timeframe had been reduced to three weeks. 

RIGHTS INFORMATION 

To help increase detainees’ access to legal information and representation, DOJ’s EOIR 

administers a Legal Orientation Program (LOP) carried out in partnership with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). At the time of the 2005 Study, the LOP operated in only 

seven detention facilities, and one of the Study’s recommendations was to expand it. Currently 

the LOP program, which involves both materials and meetings with NGO representatives, is now 

in 25 facilities and its materials are available in all facilities. Nevertheless, the full program still 

reaches only a small percentage of ICE’s total facilities and detainees. 

Detainee awareness of the availability of legal information varied. All of the facilities visited 

show a “Know Your Rights” video on screens around the facility, particularly in the intake area. 

Even so, some asylum seekers with whom USCIRF met did not recall seeing the video, and some 

told USCIRF that they were unaware of the LOP materials or NGO sessions. Regular town-hall 

meetings with facility officials, as occur at Broward Transitional Center and T. Don Hutto 

Residential Center, would provide a way to highlight this and other important issues. ICE told 

USCIRF that in addition to the expanded self-help legal materials currently at facilities, the 

agency is looking to increase access to Lexis/Nexis and other legal services, and that it would 

welcome expanded availability of LOP and other legal rights presentations. ICE also told 

USCIRF that they are working with the American Bar Association on a written guide to the 

“Know Your Rights” video that would help reinforce its information. 

PAROLE GUIDELINES

The Expedited Removal process allows for an asylum seeker found having a credible fear of 

persecution to be released from detention while his or her case is pending before an immigration 

judge (IJ). USCIRF has recommended that asylum seekers with credible fear who do not pose 

flight or security risks should be released, not detained and that such a policy be codified into 

regulations. Asylum seekers may have suffered trauma and abuse prior to arrival in the United 

States and detaining them after credible fear interviews may be re-traumatizing, with long-term 

psychological consequences. 

In December 2009, ICE issued new parole guidelines for asylum seekers in Expedited Removal 

in line with the Study’s recommendations.8

 Under the new directive, individuals found to have a 

credible fear of persecution are automatically considered for parole, and parole may be granted 

once asylum seekers establish credible fear, identity, community ties, and that they are not 

security risks, unless there are “exceptional overriding factors.” The directive also established 

procedures for informing all asylum seekers of their right to parole, documenting parole 

decisions, and reviewing and reporting on adjudications. ICE reports that, under the new 

guidelines, in fiscal year 2012 80 percent of asylum seekers found to have a credible fear were 

                                                           

8

 In November 2007, ICE issued a parole directive expanding the qualifications to parole to include credible fear, 

community ties, lack of security risk, and an undefined “public benefit,” contrary to USCIRF’s recommendation. 

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 April 2013 Report Special 

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

granted parole. Among the reasons an asylum seeker with credible fear would remain detained 

are failure to substantiate community ties or to pay for a bond. 

RECOMMENDATIONS

USCIRF finds that ICE has made progress toward implementing its announced reforms. 

However, the number of years between the announcement of new policies and uniform 

implementation has hindered its efforts. There is a need to codify into regulations the announced 

parole process and criteria, under which most asylum seekers found to have credible fear of 

persecution are paroled rather than detained. More needs to be done to ensure that asylum 

seekers, when detained, are housed in civil facilities. In addition, USCIRF finds that further 

improvements are needed to expand detainees’ access to legal information, representation, and 

in-person hearings. 

Specifically, USCIRF recommends: 

• ICE should codify the 2009 parole directive into regulations, and should continue to 

document and monitor parole decisions to ensure the directive’s criteria are being 

properly applied; 

• USCIS should permit asylum officers to grant asylum at the credible fear stage for 

asylum seekers in Expedited Removal, as they can in other asylum cases; 

• ICE should detain all asylum seekers who must be detained, whether before or after a 

credible fear determination, in civil facilities only; 

• ICE should develop civil detention standards for civil facilities; 

• ICE should ensure that staff at any facility where asylum seekers are detained are trained 

on dealing with asylum seekers and victims of torture; 

• DHS and DOJ should continue to work to increase detainees’ access to legal information 

and representation and to in-person hearings, including through the following measures: 

o DOJ should expand the full Legal Orientation Program (LOP) to all ICE detention 

facilities; 

o ICE should require every detainee to attend a screening of the Know Your Rights 

video and an in-person LOP session; and 

o USCIS and DOJ should ensure that credible fear interviews and asylum hearings 

are conducted in person; and 

• Congress should provide additional funding to increase the number of USCIS asylum 

officers and DOJ immigration judges, and expand the Legal Orientation Program. 

10
Types of 

Detainees 

at Facility 

Security 

Procedures at 

the Facility 

Freedom of 

Movement Privacy Uniforms 

Services, 

Recreation and 

Programming 

Opportunities 

Berks 

Family 

Shelter 

alien 

families 

w/out 

criminal 

convictions 

entry to facility is 

locked; cameras and 

24 hour lighting in 

common areas; 

searches of living 

areas only if items 

missing; no 

headcounts 

24/7 freedom of 

movement; 

detainees can 

access nonhousing units 

freely; no escorts 

are required 

large rooms 

changing with 

numbers of other 

detainees 

depending on 

family sizes; 

toilets have 

doors and 

showers have 

curtains; 

detainees can be 

alone in room 

no uniforms 

extended 

outdoor/recreation 

time; no 

programmatic 

activities offered; 

field trips offered 

Broward 

Transitional 

Center 

alien men 

and women 

w/out 

criminal 

convictions 

entry to facility is 

locked; fixed guards 

outside of living 

areas; cameras and 24 

hour lighting in 

common areas; 

random searches of 

living areas; 

headcounts every 8 

hours 

freedom of 

movement during 

lights on hours; 

can access nonhousing units 

during open 

hours; escorts 

required only to 

reach asylum 

offices; men and 

women kept 

separate 

6 beds per room 

with private 

toilets and 

showers in 

rooms; detainees 

can be alone in 

room 

men in 

orange, 

women in 

gray 

recreation time 

during lights on; 

extended outdoor 

time; extended 

programmatic 

activities; 

Delany Hall 

Detention 

Facility 

alien men 

and women 

w/out 

criminal 

convictions 

locked doors 

throughout facility; 

pat downs after visits 

and random after 

recreation; fixed 

guards outside of 

living areas; constant 

sight and surveillance 

of living areas; 

cameras and 24 hour 

lighting in common 

areas; random 

searches of living 

areas; headcounts 8 

times a day 

freedom of 

movement during 

lights on hours; 

can access nonhousing units 

during open 

hours; escorts 

required to reach 

cafeteria and 

visitation rooms; 

men and women 

kept separate 

10 beds per 

room; toilets 

have half doors 

and showers are 

open in 

bathrooms; 

detainees can be 

alone in room 

maroon 

shirts, gray 

pants 

recreation time 

during lights on; 

extended outdoor 

time; access to email

Detention Center Conditions 

11
Types of 

Detainees 

at Facility 

Security 

Procedures at 

the Facility 

Freedom of 

Movement Privacy Uniforms 

Services, 

Recreation and 

Programming 

Opportunities 

El Centro 

Service 

Processing 

Center 

alien men 

and women 

w/out 

criminal 

convictions 

and criminal 

alien men 

locked doors 

throughout facility; 

pat downs after 

working and meals; 

fixed guards outside 

of living areas; 

constant sight and 

surveillance of living 

areas; cameras and 24 

hour lighting 

throughout facility; 

random searches of 

living areas; 

headcounts 4 times a 

day 

freedom of 

movement is 

restricted; 

detainees access 

non-housing units 

only during 

scheduled times; 

escorts are 

required at all 

times 

large open dorm 

rooms with 

dozens of other 

detainees; toilets 

and showers are 

open; detainees 

cannot be alone 

in room 

blue for low 

level 

detainees, 

orange for 

medium level 

detainees, red 

for high level 

detainees 

1 hour 

outdoor/recreation 

time; no 

programmatic 

activities offered 

Karnes 

County Civil 

Detention 

Center 

alien men 

w/out 

criminal 

convictions 

entry to facility is 

locked; fixed guards 

outside of living 

areas; cameras and 24 

hour lighting in 

common areas; 

searches of living 

areas only if items 

missing; no 

headcounts but 

electronic check-in 5 

times a day 

24/7 freedom of 

movement; 

detainees can 

access nonhousing units 

freely; no escorts 

are required 

8 beds per room 

with private 

toilets and 

showers in 

rooms; detainees 

can be alone in 

room 

blue pants, 

gray shirts 

24 hour 

outdoor/recreation 

time; extended 

programmatic 

activities; 100 preapproved Public 

Advocate internet 

sites 

Detention Center Conditions 

12
Types of 

Detainees 

at Facility 

Security 

Procedures at 

the Facility 

Freedom of 

Movement Privacy Uniforms 

Services, 

Recreation and 

Programming 

Opportunities 

Krome 

Service 

Processing 

Center 

criminal 

alien men 

locked doors 

throughout facility; 

pat downs after 

working and meals; 

fixed guards outside 

of living areas; 

constant sight and 

surveillance of living 

areas; cameras and 24 

hour lighting 

throughout facility; 

random searches of 

living areas 

freedom of 

movement is 

restricted; 

detainees access 

non-housing units 

only during 

scheduled times; 

escorts are 

required at all 

times 

large open dorm 

rooms with 

dozens of other 

detainees; toilets 

and showers are 

open; detainees 

cannot be alone 

in room 

blue for low 

level 

detainees, 

orange for 

medium level 

detainees, red 

for high level 

detainees 

1 hour 

outdoor/recreation 

time; no 

programmatic 

activities offered 

James A. 

Musick 

Facility 

alien men 

and women 

w/out 

criminal 

convictions 

and criminal 

men and 

women 

locked doors 

throughout facility; 

random pat downs; 

fixed guards inside of 

living areas; constant 

sight and surveillance 

of living areas; 

cameras and 24 hour 

lighting throughout 

facility; random 

searches of living 

areas; headcounts 5 

times a day 

freedom of 

movement is 

restricted; 

detainees access 

non-housing units 

only during 

scheduled times; 

male detainees 

can access outside 

recreation area 

during lights on, 

but women only 

when female 

criminal prisoners 

are not outside; no 

escorts are 

required, but 

detainees 

movements are 

watched 

large open dorm 

rooms with 

dozens of other 

detainees; doors 

on toilets but 

showers are open 

in bathrooms; 

detainees cannot 

be alone in room 

lime green 

uniforms 

at least 4.5 hours 

recreation/outdoor 

time; no 

programmatic 

activities offered 

Detention Center Conditions 

13
Types of 

Detainees 

at Facility 

Security 

Procedures at 

the Facility 

Freedom of 

Movement Privacy Uniforms 

Services, 

Recreation and 

Programming 

Opportunities 

Mira Loma 

Detention 

Center 

alien men 

w/out 

criminal 

convictions 

and criminal 

alien men 

locked doors 

throughout facility; 

pat downs ; fixed 

guards outside of 

living areas; constant 

sight and surveillance 

of living areas; 

cameras and 24 hour 

lighting throughout 

facility; random 

searches of living 

areas; headcounts 5 

times a day 

freedom of 

movement is 

restricted; 

detainees access 

non-housing units 

only during 

scheduled times; 

no escorts are 

required if he has 

a pass, but 

detainees 

movements are 

watched 

large open dorm 

rooms with 

dozens of other 

detainees; toilets 

and showers 

have doors; 

detainees cannot 

be alone in room 

blue for low 

level 

detainees, 

orange for 

medium level 

detainees, red 

for high level 

detainees 

1 hour 

outdoor/recreation 

time in main yards 

but can access dorm 

yards during lights 

on; extended 

programmatic 

activities 

Otay 

Detention 

Facility 

alien men 

and women 

w/out 

criminal 

convictions 

and criminal 

alien men 

locked doors 

throughout facility; 

pat downs; fixed 

guards outside of 

living areas; constant 

sight and surveillance 

of living areas; 

cameras and 24 hour 

lighting throughout 

facility; random 

searches of living 

areas 

freedom of 

movement is 

restricted; 

detainees access 

non-housing units 

only during 

scheduled times; 

escorts are 

required at all 

times 

large open dorm 

rooms with 

dozens of other 

detainees; toilets 

and showers are 

open; detainees 

cannot be alone 

in room 

blue for low 

level 

detainees, 

orange for 

medium level 

detainees, red 

for high level 

detainees 

1-1.5 hours 

outdoor/recreation 

time; no 

programmatic 

activities offered 

T. Don Hutto 

Residential 

Center 

alien women 

w/out 

criminal 

convictions 

entry to facility is 

locked; fixed guard in 

housing unit; 

constant sight and 

surveillance in 

housing unit; 24 hour 

lighting; cameras in 

hallways and 

cafeteria; random 

searches of living 

areas; no headcounts 

but detainees check 

into dorm three times 

a day 

freedom of 

movement during 

lights on hours; 

can access nonhousing units 

during open 

hours; no escorts 

required for 

movement 

2 beds per 

rooms; toilets in 

rooms behind 

privacy curtains; 

showers in 

common areas 

behind privacy 

curtains; 

detainees can be 

alone in rooms 

no uniforms; 

detainees 

cannot wear 

revealing or 

tight clothing 

recreation time 

during lights on; 

extended outdoor 

time; extended 

programmatic 

activities; 30 

minutes internet 

daily 

Detention Center Conditions 

14