Migrants in U.S.-Mexico border
Migrants mostly form Central America wait in line to cross the border into the US at the Gateway International Bridge, between the cities of Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico, on March 15, 2021, in Brownsville, Texas. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration plans to place the migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border under "house arrest" as an alternative to detention while waiting for their court proceedings.

The said move by the current administration was confirmed through an official from the Department of Homeland and Security (DHS) on Tuesday and a notice from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Reuters reported.

According to Axios, the Biden administration plans to resort to home confinement and curfew program as it aims to curb the for-profit detention spaces.

The Daily Mail noted that the Biden administration would also cost less than the usual detention as the "home curfew" would only amount to $6-8 per day, compared to the $142 daily cost in immigration detentions.

Biden Administration Weighs in on 'House Arrests' Over Migrant Detentions

According to the notice from the ICE, a 120-day pilot program will be launched in Baltimore and Houston. About 100 to 200 adult single migrants will reportedly undergo house arrest during the pilot implementation of the program in the said areas.

The exact date when the pilot program or "home curfew" will take place was not mentioned by the authorities. However, reports noted that the implementation of the house arrests nationwide will take place later this year.

Under the house arrest or "home curfew" program, migrant enrollees would have to remain home from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m., but exceptions will be given to migrants who have work authorization or any "extraordinary" circumstances.

The house arrest will also involve "stricter" monitoring than other Alternative-to-Detention (ATD) programs that are currently in effect, but Axios noted that specific requirements when someone must be at home could vary depending on the case.

The plan announced confirmed by the Biden administration came as the arrest in the U.S.-Mexico border is expected to reach record-highs once again, and detention facilities have been limited by the coronavirus pandemic.

"We just don't have the capacity... we're not going to detain our way out of the border crisis," the DHS official said on Thursday.

Biden's Alternative-to-Detention Programs

It can be recalled that President Joe Biden is slowly chipping away from relying too much on detention facilities since he took office in January.

According to reports, the current administration is also looking for ways to allow migrants to live and work in the United States while waiting for their court proceedings.

To date, there are ATDs used by the United States, including the use of ankle bracelets or phone monitoring. Another program used by the immigration agencies includes requiring migrants to notify their case managers if they wish to leave the state.

These programs do not mandate home confinement for migrants.

Currently, there are nearly 180,000 undocumented immigrants in the U.S. who are monitored by ankle bracelets and other travel devices.

In the light of the migrant surge in the U.S.-Mexico border, officials from the Biden administration asked Congress for funding to place as many as 400,000 immigrants under alternatives-to-detention.

"Alternatives-to-detention [programs] are an effective method of tracking non-citizens released from CBP custody who are awaiting their immigration proceedings... Those who do not report are subject to arrest and potential removal by ICE," a DHS spokesperson stressed.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

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