Senators Question Private Immigration Centers In US After Unsafe Conditions Reported

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2018) A group of Democratic US Senators sent letters to the private immigration detention centers GEO and CoreCivic requesting they provide information on their compliance with Federal immigration detention standards after a watchdog report revealed unsafe conditions, Senator Elizabeth Warren's office said in a press release.

"[The senators] sent letters to GEO Group and CoreCivic, the two largest private immigration detention contractors in the United States, to request information about the companies' compliance with federal immigration detention standards following a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report about unsafe conditions and mistreatment of immigrants at a number of privately-run immigration detention centers," the release said on Friday.

The senators also sent a letter to Nakamoto Group for its questionable record of reviewing condition at the immigration detention facilities, the release said.

Nakamoto Group is a private company responsible for auditing immigration detention facilities, the release added.

The lawmakers requested that the contacted companies provide information by November 30, according to the letters.

Besides Warren, Senators Ron Wyden, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Richard Blumenthal, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Edward Markey, Mazie Hirono, Tom Udall and Jeff Merkley sent letters.

In October, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General's report of the Trump administration's immigration policy disclosed that some 860 migrant children were detained in temporary holding cells longer than the 72-hour limit permitted by US courts.

The DHS Inspector General's office also found a poorly-coordinated interagency process that provided little or no information to migrant parents about the location of their children, the report said.