Detainees complain about NM center

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) - A report from the American Civil Liberties Union says a southern New Mexico center that holds immigrants for possible deportation needs to improve how it treats them.

Immigrants interviewed by the ACLU at the federal immigration detention center in Otero County complained about prolonged detention, inadequate food, medical services and legal resources, according to an Albuquerque Journal copyright story published Sunday.

The 1,084-bed Otero County Processing Center houses immigrants who face deportation proceedings. Many were taken into custody from the interior of the United States.

They typically have not been charged with crimes other than immigration offenses. Illegal immigrants charged with federal criminal offenses usually are deported after completing their sentences, but those imprisoned for state charges can end up at the facility.

Detentions there average about 30 days, but can be longer for those who fight deportation. The ACLU's report said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials responded swiftly and appropriately in several cases, including a request to dim lighting in the solitary unit, where bright lights were on 24 hours a day.

Many detainees said, however, they were threatened with solitary confinement if they filed complaints. The report also said that when they are filed, some "reported never even receiving a response to their grievance."

The processing center, financed by Otero County, is operated by the private Utah-based Management and Training Corp., under contract with ICE. The facility, with 20 dormitories of 50 beds and a more secure unit of 84 beds, houses an average of 890 detainees.

The ACLU received complaints about conditions at the Otero County facility from more than 200 detainees since 2008. The report also is based on 42 interviews with those housed there from fall 2009 through June 2010.

An MTC spokesman referred questions to a Texas-based spokeswoman for ICE, Leticia Zamarripa. "ICE carefully considers the recommendations offered to further improve its operations," she said.

Detainees also complained about restrictive policies, such as short weekly visits from family and outdoor recreation to an enclosed, concrete courtyard with only a view of the sky.

One detainee reported vomiting repeatedly and suffering acute stomach pains for two or three days before the clinical staff gave him ibuprofen and an antacid. He later was hospitalized for three weeks.

The ACLU has praised some steps taken by ICE's parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, including hiring "detention service managers" to monitor conditions at its facilities. The Otero County facility, 60 miles south of Alamogordo, has such a manager.

"They (ICE) are moving forward with some concrete reforms," said the report's author, Emily Carey, program coordinator with the ACLU's Regional Center for Border Rights in Las Cruces. "I think we should go much further."

The ACLU called for phasing out private, for-profit prison contractors to manage civil immigration detention; expanding alternatives to detention, such as supervised release; establishing enforceable detention standards for medical and mental health care; and granting the right to court-appointed counsel for indigents going through immigration proceedings.

A June 2009 review by ICE's Office of Detention Oversight identified 29 deficiencies in the facility, such as food service, religious practices, use of force and access to legal material. But when inspectors interviewed 50 detainees, the ACLU said, it determined issues they raised were "without merit."

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Information from: Albuquerque Journal