In yet another escalation in the heavy-handed and legally dubious tactics being employed by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for President Trump’s mass deportation policy, agents are now arresting immigrants at their required check-in appointments with the agency, according to a new report from THE CITY. Reporters witnessed agents, most of whom were masked, escorting migrants on an hourly basis from an office operated by BI Inc., a subsidiary of Geo Group, a private prison contractor with the federal government. They were put in cars, and sent to the local ICE field office nearby.
The people arrested were participants in the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, an alternative to detention used by immigration authorities to ensure compliance with immigration proceedings, whether that means taking steps towards residency or deportation. “ATD-ISAP enables aliens to remain in their communities — contributing to their families and community organizations and, as appropriate, concluding their affairs in the U.S. — as they move through immigration proceedings or prepare for departure,” the program’s website reads. The website also states that the program increases court appearance rates.
People who showed up to the BI Inc. office downtown told THE CITY that they received an urgent message on the app used to communicate with authorities running the program, which read: “Your ICE official has asked that you present yourself in the office to review your case this week. Please arrive at the office Tuesday the 3rd, or Wednesday the 4th of June. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.” An immigration lawyer told reporters that she had previously accompanied migrants into the BI Inc. building, but was no longer allowed in there.
In total, 16 migrants were arrested and brought to the ICE field office on Tuesday. One migrant, whose brother was arrested on Tuesday, even though he himself was let go, said that he does not plan to return for his court date.
ICE officials were not immediately available to comment on the ISAP program. The arrests on Tuesday appear to be part of a broader escalation in tactics by ICE. Reports across the country emerged last week that government lawyers are asking judges to drop immigration cases against migrants, only to re-assign them to expedited removal proceedings that bypass the immigration court system. The result has been ICE agents waiting for migrants outside of immigration court to arrest them.
Geo Group, the parent company of BI Inc., is also the operator of Delaney Hall, a detention center in Newark, New Jersey where a scuffle broke out between ICE agents and elected officials who went to the facility to perform an inspection, resulting in the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and charges being filed against Congresswoman Lamonica McIver.
Geo Group’s market cap nearly doubled after Trump was elected in November, reaching $4 billion.
