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NEW JERSEY DETENTION CENTER ANNOUNCES PLANS TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS
Meetings between officials from the INS and the Corrections Corporation of America, a private firm that runs many INS facilities, have led to plans to improve conditions at an Elizabeth, New Jersey detention center. The facility, which houses asylum seekers, has been under fire in recent months, facing charges of managerial disorder and claims of abuse by those housed there.
Among the planned improvements are the installation of closed circuit cameras and increasing the sensitivity training given the guards. Over the past few months, even the INS has been criticizing the facility for not training its guards to understand that the detainees are asylum seekers, not criminal, and for failing to communicate with the INS. 
CCA’s contract with the INS is up for renewal in August, but the INS has not said whether the contract will be renewed. CCA is the second private company to operate the detention center. In 1995, when the facility was run by Esmor Correctional Services, riots over abuse and inhumane treatment forced its closing. It was reopened by CCA in 1997, and was supposed to serve as a model for other detention facilities nationwide. 
Critics of this and other facilities for detaining asylum seekers put forth two ways the situation could be improved. First would be to no longer use private corporations that are run for profit to run the facilities. Second, and more directly to the point, would be to cease the practice of detaining asylum seekers while their claim is adjudicated. Allowing them to seek release on bond would reduce overcrowding, and would accord these people the treatment they deserve.