Trump cutting support for halfway houses for federal prisoners: report

The Trump administration has been decreasing federal support for halfway houses, which shelter prisoners who have been released from prison, according Reuters.

The administration has quietly ended contracts with 16 facilities over recent months, according to the report. The houses are meant to help prisoners transition back into life outside of prison.

{mosads}“The bureau remains firmly committed to these practices, but has had to make some modifications to our programs due to our fiscal environment,” Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Justin Long told Reuters.

Long added that the cuts only affect areas with smaller populations and centers that are deemed underutilized. 

The Department of Justice encompasses the Federal Bureau of Prisons. 

The move seems to reflect Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ push to implement more aggressive criminal justice policies.

Sessions instructed federal prosecutors in a memo last May to charge drug offenders and undocumented immigrant defendants with the most serious crimes possible to reduce crime.

The memo from Sessions ordered federal prosecutors to “pursue the most serious, readily provable offense” that by definition “carry the most substantial guidelines sentence, including mandatory minimums.”