New detention mandates in the 1996 Immigration Act have kicked in and the INS expects a flood of new people to be taken into custody. The law's enactment has been postponed for two years because the INS could not get ready quickly enough. Now the law must take force and the INS admits it is not prepared. Many, in fact, expect new "tent cities" to be formed, much like those in Miami in the early 1980s during the Cuban refugee boatlifts. Or the INS could release thousands of current detainees to make way for the new ones where the law mandates detention.

Section 236(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 broadens the list of offenses that require INS detention.

Last minute attempts by the INS to convince the Congress to postpone implementation of the detention provisions failed. Congress did, however, include $90,000,000 in funding for construction of INS detention facilities in the Omnibus Budget Bill.

The INS also has pledged to do its best to comply and has said it will do more to turn the beds at INS detention centers over more quickly.

Immigrant rights advocates are pushing the INS not to try and track down individuals with old criminal convictions. They are also arguing that the new law only applies where the INS takes someone into custody immediately after release from criminal imprisonment. It would not apply in cases where one is released from prison and the INS does not immediately pick the alien up. That could give the agency the leeway it needs to comply with the law. They also intend to challenge the constitutionality of a provision that requires the mandatory detention of aliens who pose no danger or flight risk.