Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker would “virtually eliminate immigration detention” if elected, his campaign said on Tuesday, including ending the use of for-profit detention facilities and sharply limiting the time unaccompanied children spend in custody.
As president, Booker, a U.S. senator from New Jersey, plans to phase out contracts with private prison operators, shut down facilities that do not meet high standards of care, and reform the bond system in immigration court by prioritizing liberty for immigrants rather than detention.
Booker, 50, is among some two dozen Democrats seeking the Democratic nomination to take on U.S. President Donald Trump in next year’s election.
Trump has made clamping down on illegal immigration the centerpiece of his domestic policy agenda. He has railed against Central American migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico – many of whom are seeking refuge under U.S. asylum laws – and has sought to build a wall along vast portions of the southern border with Mexico. – READ MORE