The Obama administration intends to announce an ambitious plan today to overhaul the nation's much-criticized immigration detention system, trying to transform it from a patchwork of jail and prison cells to what its new chief called a "truly civil detention system." Details are sketchy, and even the first steps will take months or years to complete. They include reviewing the federal government's contracts with more than 350 local jails and private prisons, with an eye toward consolidating many detainees in places more suitable for noncriminals facing deportation — some possibly in centers built and run by the government. Read More »