Immigration Detention in Arizona [FACT SHEET]

By Ruthie Epstein

Human Rights First is hosting a Dialogues on Detention Series in Texas, California, Arizona, and New Orleans to convene policymakers, academics, and advocates to share knowledge, experiences, and best practices on how to reform immigration detention policies. We aim to help shift the national conversation on immigration detention, build alliances between stakeholders in both fields, and lay the groundwork for future improvements in policy and practice. Join the Dialogues!

Arizona by the Numbers (pdf)

  • Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention beds in facilities in Arizona: 2,600 (8% of the total number of ICE detention beds nationwide).
  • ICE detention beds in Arizona county jails: 700.
  • ICE detention beds in privately run facilities (including county jails) in Arizona: almost 1,800.

ICE Facilities in Arizona

  • One ICE-run Service Processing Center, Florence Service Processing Center, has almost 400 detention beds.
  • One Contract Detention Facility, Eloy, is run by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a private prison contractor, and has 1,500 immigration detention beds.
  • Three county jails – Pinal County Jail, Florence Correctional Center, and Central Arizona Detention Center – hold the remaining 700 ICE detention beds in Arizona. Both Florence Correctional Center and Central Arizona Detention Center are run by CCA.
  • The non-profit Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project seeks to provide legal assistance for indigent men and women detained in all five ICE facilities in Florence and Eloy.

The Facts

  • ICE holds the overwhelming majority of the 429,000 asylum seekers and other immigrants it detains annually – under civil immigration law authority – in jails and jail-like facilities.
  • ICE has 33,400 detention beds in about 250 facilities across the country.
  • Arriving asylum seekers and many other immigrants are detained without access to individual court review of their detention.
  • ICE spends $2 billion per year on detention – 28 times its budget for alternatives to detention.
  • Immigration detention costs taxpayers $164 per day. Alternatives cost taxpayers 30 cents to $14 per day.
  • Immigrants in removal proceedings do not receive government-funded counsel. Immigration detention creates a tremendous barrier to accessing legal representation. 40% of ICE’s detention beds are in remote locations.
  • Highly regarded Legal Orientation Presentations reach just 15% of detained immigrants and 35% of detained immigrants in removal proceedings annually.
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Published on October 10, 2012

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