Indiana’s Miami Correctional Facility is ramping up its detainment of unauthorized immigrants, despite a recent media investigation that found the maximum-security prison to be among the state’s most violent and deadly.

Nearly 430 were detained there as of Wednesday — a dramatic increase from about 160 at the end of October.

Undocumented immigrants held in detention are awaiting civil removal proceedings, and a majority have not been convicted of any U.S. crime that would warrant high-level security. Yet, inmates who had been imprisoned longer than six months reported a high prevalence of worsening physical and mental health, according to a recent Journal of the American Medical Association study.

Policymakers should be considering alternatives to detention to optimize the health of det

See Full Page