Regular readers will be aware that phone calls from prisons in the United States can be extremely expensive, partly because the telecommunications carrier in many cases is required to make payments to the prison.
The issue also exists with immigration detention centers, although parents in immigration detention are sometimes allowed free calls to children who are also in immigration detention. I do not know whether telecommunications carriers providing services to immigration detention centers are required to make payments to the centers that would push rates higher.
A BuzzFeed article from July 2018: Democratic Lawmakers Say ICE Charging Parents To Call Their Kids Violates Immigration Standards
A petition at ThePetitionSite.com based on the BuzzFeed article: "We sign this petition to demand that ICE ensure that all phone calls between separated parents and children be free of charge."
The petition's page incorrectly states that the high fees are being charged by the federal government rather than by a telecommunications carrier.
Nigel Allen