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Immigration: Screenings, Detention and Border Security

Individuals apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and placed into expedited immigration proceedings are to be removed from the country without a hearing in immigration court unless they express an intention to apply for asylum, or a fear of persecution, torture, or return to their country. Chapter 1 examines (1) USCIS and EOIR data on fear screenings, (2) USCIS policies and procedures for overseeing fear screenings, and (3) USCIS and EOIR processes for workload management.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) temporarily holds individuals in its facilities and processes them for further action, such as release or transfer to ICE. ICE manages the nation’s immigration detention system. ICE utilizes various facility types to detain individuals, such as those owned and operated by ICE and contract facilities. Chapter 2 examines (1) what available data indicate about pregnant women detained or held in DHS facilities, (2) DHS policies and standards that address the care of pregnant women, and (3) what is known about the care provided to pregnant women in DHS facilities.

Unauthorized migration across the U.S. Southwest border poses considerable challenges to federal agencies that apprehend and process unauthorized migrants (aliens) due to changing characteristics and motivations of migrants in the past few years as reported in chapter 3.

Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) experienced a significant increase in the number of individuals apprehended at or between U.S. ports of entry along the southwest border. To help address this issue, in May 2019, CBP determined it needed a temporary soft-sided facility for processing and holding single adults in the El Paso Border Patrol sector as discussed in chapter 4. (Imprint: SNOVA)