The nonprofit Migration Policy Institute has issued a report questioning the adequacy of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency's databases and information systems used to track 32,000 detainees. The organization said this issue has taken on a new urgency since the announcement in August that ICE is revamping its detention system and seeking to reduce reliance on local jails and private prisons.

"ICE may well need more information on detainees than it currently collects, particularly data that can inform and guide its legal and operational decisions related to custody reviews, eligibility for release or parole, placement in alternative-to-detention programs or even claims to U.S. citizenship," said Migration Policy Institute Vice President Donald Kerwin.

ICE has held detainees in 286 facilities, with the majority in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Nearly 70 percent of detainees have been held in state and local prisons.

"The detention data highlight the need for ICE information systems that can meet the substantial challenges of a sprawling detention system, comprised of hundreds of facilities, large and small, public and private, federal and local, that holds a highly diverse population, including men and women, criminal and noncriminal detainees, the medically fragile and others," said Serena Yi-Ying Lin, a co-author of the report.

The nonprofit institute examined ICE's database and case tracking system that was revamped in 2007.

The report recommends that ICE undertake an intensive analysis of its information systems, particularly its detention database and case tracking system. It also proposed that the agency capture information in its IT systems that would allow ICE to adhere to its national standards, including information on when and how the agency has complied with the standards.

 In addition, it urged ICE to collect all information related to detainees' medical needs, interventions, treatment and causes of death.

For more on ICE and its databases:
- see this Federal Computer Week article

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