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Detained immigrants get jail of their own
Federal government helps fund, fill facility in McHenry County

By Carolyn Starks
Tribune staff reporter

November 2, 2005

Captured illegal immigrants are being housed in the McHenry County Jail's renovated third floor, a $14 million state-of-the-art facility designed to hold detainees from around the world.

About five dozen people have been moved into the recently expanded jail. For most, their only crime was entering the country illegally, officials said.

Some were taken into custody at O'Hare International Airport, after arriving from South America, China, Iraq and Poland. Others were picked up as undocumented immigrants.

The jail project is part of a lucrative deal officials struck three years ago with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. marshal's office. The federal government shouldered $6.4 million of the renovation cost.

With more than 550 illegal immigrants in custody in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Kentucky, federal officials in Chicago were looking for a central location to hold them.

"Five years ago, we were using 21 jails on any given day" in those four states as well as in Kansas and Missouri, said Deborah Achim, field office director with Immigration and Customs. Some were held as far away as Texas.

Since then, the government has consolidated detainees into five jails in Wisconsin and Illinois. When McHenry County's jail is fully operational, only four jails will be needed for the Midwest region, officials said.

McHenry County has promised federal immigration officials jail space for 10 years in exchange for housing fees expected to add $7 million annually to the general fund. After 10 years, the county could use the facility for its own needs.

"This has allowed us to create a jail that will meet the detention needs of McHenry County for the next 20 or 30 years," Sheriff Keith Nygren said.

The jail's new detention area has four two-level pods, each with a central indoor courtyard that includes tables, chairs and a television. Men and women are kept in separate pods, each with 64 beds. The two-person cells have a bunk bed, sink and toilet.

On a recent afternoon, 26 men milled about an open area in one of the pods, watching TV, exercising or reading. The doors to their cells were open, but at night, the inmates were locked in.

The men were under direct supervision, meaning an unarmed corrections officer was locked in the pod with them. Armed officers kept an eye on the area from behind black glass.

"They are coming from a different kind of place, so it's a different type of [prisoner] to deal with," said John Falk, a corrections officer.

Those who speak English are a big help, breaking the language barrier for others, Falk said.

Seventy additional corrections officers have been hired.

The jail also has been equipped with three "negative flow" cells designed to filter out airborne viruses.

McHenry County has provided jail space for detainees for the last three years, averaging about 50 a week, both men and women.

Most sought asylum from China. But once the expanded facility starts to fill up, the mix will change to predominantly Latinos or Eastern Europeans, officials said.

Those seeking asylum must demonstrate a credible fear of persecution if they returned home, officials said. Once such a fear is established, detainees typically are freed until a hearing before an immigration judge, who decides whether they can stay in the country.

Others bypass the legal process and slip into the general population before the hearing.

Dave Warren, a member of the Mother Cabrini Region of the Secular Franciscan Order, is among a growing number of local volunteers providing humanitarian aid to the detainees.

These volunteers encouraged the jail to create special menus such as boiled fish, chicken and rice for the Chinese because American food made them sick. The Franciscans deposit $10 to a jail account for each detainee and have brought religious material, such as Bibles written in Polish or the Koran in Arabic.

On Tuesday, Warren dropped off a restaurant-size rice cooker at the jail's kitchen because, according to the detainees, "they weren't cooking the rice correctly."

"The jail is designed for detainees, not hardened criminals," Warren said. "Some of them are all alone and in need of visitors or help."