immigration detention center
Enable an agent to recognize an immigration detention center, assess its physical and operational condition, and identify what evidence and authorization are needed before proposing actions affecting its use or occupants.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
5 bundles · 9 layers · 15 findings · 23 questions
Detention identity and boundary Establishes why the place qualifies as an immigration detention center and which parts of a site the classification covers.
Purpose and designation
Records evidence of intended and actual immigration detention use.
Immigration detention use
Distinguish documented designation from observed use and retain discrepancies without resolving them by assumption.
- What evidence establishes that this facility holds people for immigration-related purposes and restricts their ability to leave? definition
- Who issued the designation, when did it apply, and what evidence describes current use? provenance
Physical and shared boundaries
Separates dedicated detention space from neighboring or shared functions.
Detention component
Identify the buildings, units, perimeter points, and shared facilities attributable to immigration detention.
- Which spaces form the immigration detention area, and which belong to criminal custody, open reception, or unrelated uses? boundary
- Which entrances, medical rooms, visiting spaces, or utilities are shared, and who controls access to them? boundary
Confinement and movement Describes the physical and operational arrangements governing admission, internal movement, and departure.
Admission and departure
Connects custody transitions to facility spaces and responsible roles.
Custody transition arrangements
Record intake, transfer, and release arrangements without substituting the facility model for individual detention decisions.
- Which spaces and procedures support admission, temporary waiting, transfer, and release? definition
- Which responsible roles verify authorization for each custody transition, and how are unresolved discrepancies escalated? action
Internal movement and emergencies
Examines how controlled movement affects daily access and emergency departure.
Movement and safe egress
Record restrictions between housing and service areas alongside arrangements for evacuation from locked spaces.
- What permissions, schedules, or staffing dependencies govern access to healthcare, consultation rooms, outdoor areas, and other housing units? boundary
- What verified arrangements allow occupants, including those needing assistance, to evacuate locked areas during an emergency? action
Detention accommodation and care Relates occupancy and population needs to usable living space, essential services, and healthcare access.
Population and housing
Assesses whether the available housing supports the population the center is designated to receive.
Usable capacity and placement
Keep capacity bases separate and assess housing arrangements against documented admission categories and support needs.
- What are the dated occupancy, design capacity, authorized capacity, and serviceable capacity for each detention housing unit? measurement
- Which housing arrangements support or limit accommodation of families, different age groups, and people with accessibility or protection needs? boundary
Essential services and healthcare
Examines the services occupants can actually reach while confined.
Access to necessities and care
Record provision and practical access separately for food, water, sanitation, hygiene, suitable indoor conditions, and physical and mental healthcare.
- What evidence establishes availability, interruptions, and access delays for necessities and healthcare across detention units? measurement
- How can occupants request confidential care, obtain language assistance, and receive urgent assessment or transfer when on-site services are insufficient? action
Contact, accountability, and remedy Models access beyond confinement and the mechanisms for detecting and correcting facility problems.
Legal and personal contact
Examines spaces, equipment, and procedures supporting confidential consultation and outside communication.
Effective outside access
Distinguish nominal availability from usable access to legal representatives, interpreters, family contact, and relevant external services.
- What facilities and arrangements support private legal consultation, interpretation, telephone or digital communication, and visits? definition
- What documented scheduling, cost, accessibility, language, or monitoring conditions limit practical use of these channels? measurement
Inspection and corrective action
Connects complaints and external observations to responsible parties and verified follow-up.
Reviewable conditions and remedies
Record dated evidence, disputed observations, responsible roles, and the status of corrective actions without treating assertions as resolved findings.
- Which bodies can inspect this facility, what access do they have, and which dated reports or complaint records have been reviewed? provenance
- How can occupants raise confidential concerns, and who must investigate, implement corrective action, and verify completion? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of immigration detention center this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of immigration detention center this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of immigration detention center this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of immigration detention center this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of immigration detention center this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of immigration detention center this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of immigration detention center this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Society, people and institutions
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- SOC
- Domain
- SOC.ORG
- Other names and narrower kinds
- Centre for Temporary Stay of Immigrants, administrative detention center, South Korean immigration detention facility, Immigration detention facility in the Netherlands, Australian immigration detention facility
What it is Filled
An immigration detention center is a facility in which people are deprived of liberty under immigration powers, typically while authorities determine their identity, immigration status, admission, or removal.
In scope
- Facility boundaries, buildings, detention units, and shared spaces
- Immigration detention purpose, designated population, and operational status
- Confinement arrangements and controlled routes for admission, movement, and departure
- Accommodation capacity, occupancy, essential services, and physical conditions
- Spaces and arrangements for healthcare, legal consultation, visits, and independent monitoring
Out of scope
- The operating organization as an institution, including its corporate governance
- Individual immigration cases, detention decisions, and removal proceedings
- Personal medical records and individual care plans
- Immigration policy and detention law as independent bodies of rules
- Transport vehicles and detention escort services outside the facility boundary
- Open reception centers, ordinary accommodation, and criminal custody facilities except where they share the site
Why it exists Filled
Enable an agent to recognize an immigration detention center, assess its physical and operational condition, and identify what evidence and authorization are needed before proposing actions affecting its use or occupants.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Evidence identifies immigration-related detention as a designated or actual use; accommodating migrants alone does not establish this facility type.
- Occupants cannot freely leave the designated detention area under ordinary operating arrangements; reception or shelter terminology alone is insufficient.
- The modeled entity has an identifiable physical boundary or dedicated area, rather than being only an operating agency or detention program.
- Where a site also supports criminal custody or open reception, the immigration detention component can be identified without classifying the entire site by that use.
- The model records the facility kind separately from a named center, its operator, and a particular building or housing unit.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Help locate, track or identify detainees for anyone other than authorized parties or the person themselves.
- Disclose a detainee's identity, health or asylum details without consent or legal basis.
- Assist in unlawful detention, abuse or denial of access to lawyers.
- Describe people in detention as criminals or use dehumanising language about them.
Only with a human decision
- Any decision on detention, release or removal of a person.
- Sharing information about a detainee with the authorities of their country of origin.
May
- Report on detention centres from public inspection, court and monitoring records, with sources.
- Help detained people or their representatives find legal aid, consular and complaint routes.
- Report conditions that endanger detainees' health or safety to the responsible authority.
Moral aspects Filled
- Detention deprives people of liberty without a criminal conviction; it must be lawful and humane.
- Children, asylum seekers and survivors of torture are especially vulnerable in detention.
Who is affected
- Detained people
- Their families
- Staff and visitors
Owners Filled
Steward
The operating immigration authority or its contractor; inspectorates and courts oversee it.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q2945301 - registry parent class
- Q84490437 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.immigration-detention-center
- Wikidata: Q2261391 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2261391)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Detention-use designation: dedicated immigration detention; mixed-use detention; temporary designated detention; disputed or unverified
- Operational status: proposed; commissioned; operating; partially operating; suspended; closed; repurposed; unknown
- Detention-area boundary: Links to site, buildings, units, shared spaces, and controlled boundary points
- Capacity by basis: persons, separately recording design, authorized, and currently serviceable capacity with source and date
- Occupancy by housing unit: persons per unit at a recorded timestamp
- Designated admission population: Documented age groups, family arrangements, and other admission restrictions; unknown where unverified
- Movement regime: Documented permissions and restrictions by zone, occupant group, and time
- Responsible authorities and operator: Links to designating authority, detaining authority, operator, and oversight bodies with responsibility scope
- Essential-service availability: available; restricted; interrupted; unavailable; unverified, separately for each service and assessment time
Plane SOC: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- A secure compound with fencing, controlled gates and staffed entry points.
- Signage naming an immigration or border authority.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Classify a site or dedicated area using evidence of immigration detention use and restrictions on leaving.
- Map detention units, shared services, controlled routes, and responsibility boundaries.
- Compare dated occupancy with capacity figures whose basis is explicitly recorded.
- Identify gaps in accommodation, healthcare access, communication, and emergency arrangements for the designated population.
- Route proposed repairs, access changes, or operational restrictions to the responsible authority for review.
- Assemble a sourced facility assessment that separates observations, reported conditions, and unresolved questions.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Overcrowding and poor care harm physical and mental health.
- Prolonged detention increases the risk of self-harm.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, United Nations.
Context of use required Filled
- Immigration detention centers are used by public authorities to hold people under immigration powers while matters such as identity, admission, immigration status or removal are addressed.
- They may operate near borders, airports or inland administrative centers and provide controlled accommodation alongside immigration processing.
- Their use is encountered in immigration administration, legal representation, independent monitoring and the provision of health and welfare services.
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q2261391: immigration detention center - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Immigration detention center - general description of the item
Open questions
- Which jurisdiction-specific definitions determine whether temporary holding rooms, transit-zone facilities, and mixed-use detention units fall within this registered thing?
- Which authoritative sources establish applicable facility requirements, and how do those requirements differ by designated population and intended detention duration?
- How should intended holding duration and actual length of stay be represented when short-stay facilities accommodate people for longer periods?
- What evidence and assessment methods are sufficient to establish serviceable capacity, effective healthcare access, and usable confidential communication?
- Does the registry's broader entry for center provide a meaningful parent model, or is the shared word only a lexical overlap?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q2261391/spec.json