U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued new guidelines April 11 that are focused on strengthening protections for detainees who have some kind of serious mental condition.

The new guidance is addressed in ICE Directive 11063.2: Identification, Communication, Recordkeeping and Safe Release Planning for Detained Individuals with Serious Mental Disorders or Conditions. This directive focuses on the identification, treatment and monitoring of this particularly vulnerable population, according to a new release announcing the guidelines.

"ICE continues its efforts to implement policies and directives that support a fair, orderly, and humane immigration system," said ICE Acting Director Tae D. Johnson. “The directive strengthens existing guidelines regarding the treatment of detainees found to have a serious mental disorder or condition, including policies regarding their transfer, removal or safe release, when appropriate and permitted under law.”

The new directive aligns while also reinforcing a policy by the Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review that provides certain procedural protections to unrepresented, detained respondents with serious mental disorders or conditions that may render them incompetent to represent themselves in immigration proceedings.