Cory Booker's new immigration would replace private detention centers with 'evidence-based non-profit alternatives'

(Image credit: Mike Segar/Reuters)

published 2 July 2019

Executive action for executive action. That's how Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) plans to address immigration reform if he's elected to the Oval Office in 2020.

Booker unveiled his immigration plan on Tuesday. While his vision is bold, many of the steps he would take to address the issue align with those favored by his Democratic primary contenders, including shutting down "inhumane" Department of Homeland Security facilities, reversing President Trump's "zero tolerance" policy, reforming Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and addressing root causes by working with regional partners in Central America. He'd also phase out the use of private, for-profit migrant detention centers over a three-year period, which reportedly account for roughly two-thirds of all beds in the detention system. That would significantly reduce space, but Booker would adopt "evidence-based non-profit alternatives" to detention to counteract that. The plan does not detail the alternatives.

Booker does not shy away from how he'd get this done. Right at the top of the plan's first page, in big, bold print, are the words "Cory Booker Won't Wait for Congress." Instead, as president, Booker says he'll take swift, decisive action beginning on his first day in the White House by signing executive orders to begin dismantling the policies espoused by the Trump administration regarding the southern border.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.