Make It Easier, Not More Complex
Employee Views on Immigration Detention Decision‐Making in Canada
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24235203 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bronwen Perley‐Robertson (0000-0002-5786-0816, Department of Psychology Carleton University Ottawa Ontario Canada), Ralph C Serin (0000-0003-3570-5775, Department of Psychology Carleton University Ottawa Ontario Canada), Isabella R L Bossom (0000-0003-3035-518X, Department of Psychology Carleton University Ottawa Ontario Canada), Sarah K Watts (Department of Psychology Carleton University Ottawa Ontario Canada), Shelley L Brown (0000-0002-9372-407X, Department of Psychology Carleton University Ottawa Ontario Canada) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Publication date | 2026-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Migration (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-7985 • E-ISSN: 1468-2435 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/imig.70238 |
| OpenAlex | W7223056958 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 20 |
Rising public scrutiny has put immigration detention systems under pressure to defend their decision‐making practices. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has drawn attention in this area, largely due to its partnerships with correctional agencies. Critics challenge CBSA's framework for placing noncitizens in these facilities, characterizing its risk assessment practices as opaque, arbitrary, and subjective. To address these concerns, CBSA commissioned us to develop an empirical tool for guiding immigration detention decisions—spanning conditional release to security classification level within detention. We surveyed 92 CBSA employees using mixed methods to gain their insights and ensure the operational utility of our tool. Top‐rated risk factors for decision‐making were criminal/compliance history, mental health, cooperation, identity concerns, and behaviour. We also identified misconceptions about standardized risk tools, the need for a streamlined assessment process, gaps in mental health guidance, operational decision‐making barriers, and opportunities for enhanced training. This study provides a foundation for developing an operationally useful tool that will improve the transparency and defensibility of CBSA's immigration detention decisions.
Canada Border Services Agency · conditional release · Criminal history · decision-making tools · employee training · Immigration detention · Mental health · non-citizens · Risk assessment · security classification · staff perspectives · transparency · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Immigration Law and Human Rights · Migration, Refugees, and Integration
Where Should We Intervene?
Classification for Effective Rehabilitation
Extraneous factors in judicial decisions
Are risk assessment tools more accurate than unstructured judgments in predicting violent, any, and sexual offending? A meta‐analysis of direct comparison studies
Risk Assessment Overrides
A realist approach to thematic analysis
Predicting outcome with the Level of Service Inventory-Revised
The Meta-Analysis of Clinical Judgment Project
Sixty-Six Years of Research on the Clinical Versus Actuarial Prediction of Violence
Using thematic analysis in psychology
| Highly cited | No |
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