**2. Detention and the Law**

From its modest roots in the context of deporting Irish and French revolutionaries from the U.S., through its employment in the 1980s to address the sudden influx of Cubans and Haitians, immigration detention has grown to be an essential part of American immigration law enforcement (Wilsher 2012, pp. 1–118).<sup>10</sup> Although the procedures by which detention can be ordered are regulated by U.S. law, the manner in which detention is carried out is left largely unchecked. This section will briefly address the purpose of detention before moving on to the domestic and international standards that govern its implementation and an overview of criticisms of the U.S. detention regime that predated the pandemic.
