A series in which we (will aspire to) offer a sampling of today’s headlines on immigration, race, and related stories.
August 27, 2018
Must read:
Fascinating, disturbing expose of brutal treatment of inmates with mental health issues in jails around the country - from the Virginian-Pilot. Included is a visual presentation of 404 inmates who died in custody.
The Corporations:
Investment banks demonstrate confidence in the future earnings of CoreCivic (which owns/operates multiple immigration detention centers around the country), extending the company $1 billion line of credit in the days after “zero-tolerance” policy was announced. (Here’s the SEC report, for those who understand ‘financese.’)
Meanwhile, GEO Group is cashing in on intensive supervision (ankle monitoring) of immigrants who are not in detention. This article from the Associated Press examines the pros and cons of this alternative to detention.
The Agencies:
More on those tense inter-agency emails produced through a lawsuit seeking to block termination of TPS status for Sudan, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. See excerpts of the emails here and here.
To avoid congressional veto, city of D.C. redirects funds intended to help immigrants in detention, using it instead to help with asylum and visa applications.
The Courts:
San Diego Union Tribune profile of Lee Gelernt, the ACLU lawyer in the case that blocked family separations.
The Polls:
New Associated Press poll out today: 61% of voters disapprove of Trump’s overall handling of immigration. 58% think the administration is doing too little to reunite kids and parents (8% say they’re doing too much…). More Democrats have an unfavorable view of ICE (57%) than favorable, but only a quarter support abolishing ICE. Republicans show 57% favorable view of ICE with the same number supporting efforts to ditch the agency. Full results here.
A Harvard/Harris poll out today shows that 46% approve of Trump’s handling of immigration (85% of Republicans, 19% of Democrats). Other highlights:
Left-leaners and right-leaners each have their own reason for finding Jeff Sessions unfavorable, leaving him with an overall 21% favorable rating, 48% unfavorable.
Most Republicans (53%) rate immigration among the most important issues of the day while Dems place it third (23%) under health care (37%) and the economy (28%).
Only 7% of respondents believe that undocumented immigrants are the major cause of crime in the U.S., with lack of jobs and lack of moral values scoring highest.
55% of respondents feel there are too many people in prisons today – 27% think there are not enough people in prison.
40%, a plurality, think prison sentences are not long enough.
The majority (53%) oppose government contracts with private prison companies, though the numbers for each party mirror each other at 64/36.
62% support 287(g) type agreements between ICE and local law enforcement.
58% feel the criminal justice system isn’t harsh enough on crime but 61% acknowledge that minorities do not receive equal treatment.
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