Immigrants fleeing torture or persecution no longer will spend indefinite incarceration in American immigration centers, thanks to a change in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy. Following the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration required many asylum seekers to be locked up while authorities reviewed their applications, out of fear that they might be terrorists. That policy resulted in many immigrants, including pregnant women and children, being confined in prison-like conditions for long periods. But DHS under the Obama administration now will allow those seeking asylum to live freely in the U.S. while immigration judges decide their fate.