Ramtin Arablui

In one infamous case at a detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, detainees alleged they were tortured and beaten by guards, lacked fresh air and sunlight, and lived with vermin.

Brianna says that immigration officials often explain these decisions as a response to overcrowding.

But that's not how many of the people who are detained see it.

And there's a ton of poor rural communities around the country.

That are in desperate positions that might be open to this.

okay, if federal government's spending all this money to detain and then deport people, and a lot of times they're coming back in the country and it's not actually achieving anything economically in terms of supporting American workers and it's actually hurting American companies, why?

Like, why are they doing this if there's no material benefit to the economy or to protecting workers?

I guess I have trouble fully understanding that.

I hear you about the origins of this process being built in racism with the Chinese Exclusionary Act, but President Obama also expanded immigration, detention, et cetera, during his period.

And I don't think President Obama's policies in general were racist or that it was a racist approach, but I do think he saw a huge political advantage there.

And I'm Ramteen Arablui.

You've been listening to ThruLine from NPR.

This episode was produced by me.

And me and... Lawrence Wu.

Fact-checking for this episode was done by Kevin Vocal.

Thank you to Johannes Dergi, Laura Schwartz, Edith Chapin, and Colin Campbell.

This episode was mixed by Jimmy Keeley.

And finally, if you have an idea or like something you heard on the show, please write us at ThruLine at NPR.org.

And make sure to follow us on Apple, Spotify or the NPR app.

That way you'll never miss an episode.