The U.S. immigration detention system doles out billions of dollars in taxpayer handouts to private prison CEOs, funding physical and sexual abuse, torturous solitary confinement, and fatal medical neglect of detained people. Alternatives to immigration detention are urgently needed.

From 2023 to 2024, one successful alternative existed: the Case Management Pilot Program (CMPP), which funded nonprofits and local governments to provide case managment services to non-citizens geared toward ensuring their appearance in court for removal proceedings.

On March 31, 2025, RFK Human Rights submitted a Freedom of Information Act Request to the Department of Homeland Security and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to seek information about the CMPP’s effectiveness, scope, and participant demographics.

What solutions exist?

By helping people achieve stability in the community and meaningfully participate in their immigration proceedings, case management models are a humane alternative to punitive and wasteful immigration detention. They fund local economic opportunity by creating dignified employment in case management services, tailored to individual needs. These include mental health care, cultural orientation, human trafficking screening and referrals, legal information and referrals, and connections with other community-based services. Where appropriate, they may also include pre-departure planning and reintegration assistance as appropriate.

Not only are case management programs cheaper and more compassionate—they’re also effective. In its Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report, CRCL reported that “[a]t the close of Fiscal Year 2023, 100 percent of CMPP participants who had a scheduled immigration court hearing had attended their scheduled hearing.”

How can I get involved?

Read our request to learn more about the CMPP.

Ask Congress to fund case management, not ICE detention.

Sign up to our mailing list for updates on immigration detention in the U.S. and community-based alternatives.

March 31, 2025

Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Homeland Security and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties