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Border Report
September 22, 2022

Record number of migrants put in Alternatives to Detention program by Biden administration
By Sandra Sanchez



Alternatives to Detention is often considered preferable for immigrants, because being held in detention creates barriers to procedural justice, such as making it more difficult to obtain legal counsel. ATD is also cheaper for the government than detention. However, immigration attorneys and advocates have also described negative consequences to clients on ATD, such as leading to frequent and disruptive virtual check-ins and feeling constantly watched by the government, which can be traumatic for people fleeing government persecution,” Kocher said.
 
The federal government has placed a record number of migrants in the Alternatives to Detention program, which is a way to monitor asylum-seekers without having to incarcerate them, according to new data. The latest data shows there are 150,755 migrant families and single individuals currently being monitored by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) of Syracuse University.


Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, Syracuse University
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