Democratic presidential contender Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said she would end the detention system for migrants waiting for their claims to be processed and would let them “go into the community” until their court dates.
Speaking Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Gillibrand was asked about the detention system and interjected, saying, “I wouldn’t keep them in detention at all.”
“I wouldn’t — as president of the United States — I wouldn’t use the detention system at all,” the 52-year-old senator from New York said.
Gillibrand said that, if elected, she would increase revenue to other border security measures and slash funds for detention.
“In fact, what I would do is actually fund the border security measures that are anti-terrorism, anti-human trafficking, anti-drug trafficking, and anti-gun trafficking,” Gillibrand said. “And I would defund these for-profit prison systems that are harming children and harming families who are seeking our asylum.”
The senator claimed that if illegal immigrants are released into the U.S. that they would voluntarily return to court after being granted a lawyer.
“They don’t need to be incarcerated. They can — if they are given a lawyer and given a process, they will follow it. They can go into the community in the way we used to handle these cases under the Department of Justice,” she said.
Gillibrand is one of 23 people seeking the Democratic nomination for president. A RealClearPolitics national average of polls has her at 1% support. Former Vice President Joe Biden leads the pack, bringing in 38.3% nationally.
[Also read: Gillibrand: Give Social Security to illegal immigrants]
