ICE May House Undocumented Immigrants in Private Prisons
WASHINGTON — Private detention facilities in Ohio, New Mexico and Texas may soon be used to house undocumented immigrants, despite an announcement by the Washington-based U.S. Justice Department in August to phase out its use of private prisons. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is currently seeking to house approximately 5,000 additional undocumented individuals, as the movement of immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border is expected to increase in the coming weeks and months.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama administration is considering using facilities located in Youngstown, Ohio, Cibola County, N.M., and Robstown, Texas, to temporarily house undocumented immigrants. Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) based in Nashville, Tenn., owns both the Ohio and New Mexico facilities.
The Justice Department’s Bureau of Prisons ended its 10-year contract with CCA to house federal inmates in the Cibola County facility in July, following a report published by The Nation detailing poor inmate medical care. In particular, the report claimed the Cibola County facility failed to properly treat inmates for tuberculosis, did not offer adequate HIV care and failed to offer timely care to an inmate that had suffered a heart attack. The move resulted in CCA’s announcement that it would close the facility, and came shortly before the Justice Department announced its larger plan to “substantially reduce” its placement of federal inmates in private prisons.
More than 40,000 people are currently under ICE supervision in detention centers across the country, according to the Wall Street Journal, necessitating an additional $136 million in operating funds to keep the facilities running through the beginning of December. Department of Homeland Security officials expect the overall number of individuals in custody and awaiting deportation will rise to roughly 45,000 in the coming weeks, and some projections put that number as high as 47,000 by June 2017, according to the Wall Street Journal. Urgent space needs may force ICE officials to settle for housing undocumented individuals in detention facilities that do not meet Prison Rape Elimination Act or minimum quality standards.
In an email to USNews.com, ICE spokeswoman Jennifer Elzea, said that the agency “can neither confirm nor discuss ongoing contract negotiations until a contract is signed between ICE and another organization.”
“ICE remains committed to providing a safe and humane environment for all those in its custody,” Elzea told USNews.com. “ICE’s civil detention system reduces transfers, maximizes access to counsel and visitation, promotes recreation, improves conditions of confinement and ensures quality medical, mental health and dental care.”
In the initial announcement to reduce and ultimately end the use of private prisons, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates wrote in a memo that private facilities “simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Department’s Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security.”
Yate’s statement, however, did not apply to ICE detainees, who the Wall Street Journal described as “technically in the federal system but not under the purview of the federal Bureau of Prisons.”
For its part, CCA has consistently contested the Justice Department’s claims of poor management. “The findings simply don’t match up to the numerous independent studies that show our facilities to be equal or better with regard to safety and quality, or the excellent feedback we get from our partners at all levels of government,” CCA spokesman Jonathan Burns wrote in a statement published by the Wall Street Journal.