U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia is asking federal officials not to detain immigrants in federal prisons, including at Federal Correctional Institution Atlanta.
In a Feb. 20 letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Ossoff warned that housing immigrants in Bureau of Prisons properties would be bad for the immigrants, inmates and prison staff. Earlier this month, the Bureau of Prisons confirmed to the AP that it began holding immigration detainees.
Ossoff wrote that immigrants should not be placed in prisons if they are not charged with criminal offenses. The Trump administration tried this in 2018 and faced backlash from immigrants’ attorneys for human rights violations when immigrants were treated as criminals.
“This raises serious constitutional and human rights concerns that are as present today as they were in 2018,” Ossoff wrote in the letter.
Prison employees have already expressed concern to the senator about not having the right training to house immigrants, and the additional pressure more detained people will put on an already understaffed system.
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