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Appearance Assistance Program Final Planning Report

NCJ Number
171962
Date Published
1996
Length
79 pages
Annotation
A demonstration program, known as the Appearance Assistance Program (AAP), to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of detention and release procedures for individuals charged with violating immigration laws is described.
Abstract
The AAP is a supervised release program to address problems related to noncompliance by persons who are not detained and inefficient use of available detention space. Program goals are to increase appearance rates of people who are not detained at scheduled immigration proceedings, to increase compliance by persons ordered to leave the United States who not detained prior to court order, and to conserve space in Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detention facilities to permit the detention of mandatory detainees and other persons not appropriate for release. The plan is to test the AAP in a 3-year demonstration project in the New York City area. Program activities will include the development and implementation of intake screening process to identify individuals likely to appear at immigration court hearings if released under supervision and to provide more consistent and fair criteria for the release of detained persons; the establishment of a Reporting and Assistance Center to carry out supervision, offer useful resource references, and reinforce incentives to appear at court hearings for individuals participating in the AAP; and the development and implementation of procedures to facilitate INS enforcement of removal orders. The AAP will target defensive asylum seekers, detained criminal aliens, undocumented workers, and affirmative asylum seekers. A formal evaluation of the program is planned to identify program strengths and weaknesses and ways in which the program can be improved to meet its primary goals. The evaluation methodology is detailed, the legality and effectiveness of home detention for immigration detainees are discussed, and the intake screening process and associated forms are described. 85 footnotes and 1 table

Date Published: January 1, 1996