INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Trump had scrapped the policy of separating children from illegal immigrants (File)Washington: Police chiefs from across the United States,
both Republicans and Democrats, on Wednesday urged the White House to find alternatives to detention of immigrant families given the risks
it poses to children and its huge cost.In a joint letter, more than 45 law enforcement heads appealed to Trump to consider other
possibilities than incarceration, such as requiring heads of households to wear global positioning signal (GPS) ankle bracelets or receive
periodic telephone checks.The geographic and political diversity of the signatory police chiefs showed their apprehension at locking up
migrant families at a time when U.S
law enforcement is trying to gain the trust of immigrant communities.Trump issued an order on Wednesday to scrap his policy of separating
children from parents caught entering the United States illegally, a move praised by the police chiefs.But under the order, which is likely
to be challenged in court, families would instead be detained together for the duration of immigration proceedings, which can take months or
years to complete.Family detention centers could radicalize young people, pushing them towards street gangs or hate groups, said Houston
police chief Art Acevedo."The last thing we need to do is marginalise and disenfranchize young people," said Acevedo, who emigrated to the
United States from Cuba as a young child
"You can accomplish the safety aspect and monitoring aspect at a fraction of the cost without having the negative impact on kids."Vetting of
families would show most do not need to be incarcerated as they pose no threat to the community, according to the letter from the Law
Enforcement Immigration Task Force.Confinement would endanger their childrens' physical and emotional development, according to the active
and retired officials who ranged from Orlando police chief John Mina to Washington chief of police Peter Newsham and Cel Rivera, head of
Lorain, Ohio's police force.Taxpayers stand to save millions of dollars each year through incarceration alternatives, given the average cost
of holding a person in specialised family detention is above $300 a day, according to the group.Past alternatives to immigrant detention
were more than 99 percent successful in getting family members to immigration hearings, the letter said."Local governments have been using
alternatives to incarceration for a long time," said Fresno, California Sheriff Margaret Mims, a Republican who runs a local jail.© Thomson
Reuters 2018(This story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
