1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

I am writing with policy issues that need to be resolved before lifting the freeze on Homeland Security funding.    New detention rules allow people with no criminal record or flight risk, family members, workers, business owners and taxpayers, to be detained for months, while their immigration cases move through the courts. Simultaneously, huge private detention facilities are being constructed using Homeland Security funding, to hold these otherwise productive members of society.   Previously, except at the border, many of these individuals were allowed to remain in their communities while pursuing legal residency. Detaining them instead causes unnecessary harm to families and communities and costs taxpayers billions of dollars to warehouse people in private detention centers.   There are also troubling reports that detention conditions are poorly monitored, inspections are limited, and regulations are not consistently enforced, leaving little oversight.   Making the detention policy less restrictive for nonviolent illegal immigrants would significantly reduce both the human cost and the financial burden on US taxpayers, without weakening immigration enforcement. It would also make the Mega-detention centers unnecessary.   Thank you for your attention to this issue.