Why ‘Detention Beds’ Complicate the U.S. Border Debate

First came the wall. Then U.S. leaders trying to avert another government shutdown got hung up on beds. At issue was how many people can be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency in charge of carrying out President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. A late deal by lawmakers may have bridged the impasse, reducing the risk that funding for some federal departments -- including the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE -- would once again lapse.

It’s shorthand for the capacity of the various facilities in which the U.S. government detains noncitizens facing matters in immigration court. In recent years, the average daily detention population has exceeded the number of funded beds. It costs about $160 per night for each person in ICE custody, which is higher than the cost to care for the regular prison population.