Thread: Feds transfer illegal immigrants held at LA detention facili

Feds transfer illegal immigrants held at LA detention facility
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES
Oct 20, 2007
A number of illegal immigrants at a federal detention center have been transferred to other facilities, authorities said Saturday.

The detainees were moved while authorities perform maintenance and conduct inspections at the center located in Los Angeles' San Pedro section, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.

The agency wouldn't say when or where the detainees were relocated or how many, citing security concerns. It also declined to give more information about the maintenance work, but said "the need for preventative maintenance was identified during a facility evaluation."

"ICE continuously inspects all of its detention facilities to ensure they adhere to the highest standards," the agency said.

The detention center, one of several nationwide to come under scrutiny from immigrant and civil rights groups, usually houses several hundred illegal immigrants facing deportation.

The facility lost its accreditation in August after failing to comply with mandatory standards, but ICE said the transfers were unrelated. Citing agency policy, ICE has declined to release the inspection report by Alexandria, Va.,-based American Correctional Association or elaborate on why the facility failed the renewal inspection, done every three years.

Ahilan Arulanantham, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said he was never informed one of his clients, an Ethiopian immigrant, had been recently moved to a facility in San Antonio, Texas. He was critical of the transfers.

"This means they will be detained longer for no good reason," Arulanantham said. "Many of them have family in the area."

The San Pedro center came under sharp criticism last summer when a transgender Mexican immigrant with AIDS being housed there died while in custody. The family claimed Victor Arellano was improperly denied medical attention, a contention immigration officials rejected.

A lawsuit filed by the ACLU in June, aiming to stop immigration authorities from forcibly drugging deportees, cited an immigrant allegedly drugged at the San Pedro facility.

www.pe.com

How many people can have that same last name - Arellano? An awful lot from what I've read.

I still don't really understand why they need detention facilities and beds to house these invaders.

Cant they just fill up a c-140 and then take em on home?

Why do we have to keep them hanging around here?

Related article
Detainees moved to other facilities

By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 21, 2007
anna.gorman@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency Saturday moved a number of detainees out of its immigration detention center on Terminal Island so the aging facility can be renovated, officials said.

The agency would not say how many people were transferred or where they were sent, but attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union said they were told that more than 100 detainees were moved to centers around the nation, including ones in Texas and Alabama, and that transfers would continue.

Immigration attorneys said they were not informed about the transfers ahead of time and do not know where their clients are now being housed.

"The need for preventative maintenance was identified during a facility evaluation by ICE and private-sector experts as part of our ongoing assessment process," agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice said in a written statement. "ICE is taking extraordinary and costly measures to ensure the well-being of our detainee population."

The statement said the relocations were temporary and that the agency took into account detainees' criminal histories and medical conditions and the status of their legal cases in making the transfers. The detainees are facing deportation, and many are in the legal process of fighting to stay in the United States. Some were arrested after committing crimes, overstaying visas or failing to abide by deportation orders. Others landed in detention after their petitions for asylum or green cards were denied.

ACLU attorney Ahilan Arulanantham said he called the center Saturday and was told that the client he was trying to reach was among many detainees who were moved. "It's a serious injustice by the government to transfer detainees far away without notifying their attorneys, especially when they have hearings upcoming, and now they are going to have to wait months more in detention before they get their day in court," he said.

Arulanantham said he has dozens of clients at the center and that now he does not know if they are still there. "I don't know where they are," he said. "I have to hope that they will call sometime. It's a nightmare."

anna.gorman@latimes.com

It's Hell if you do and Hell if you don't with these people.ACLU caused the closeing,now they are complaining the people have been moved DUH !!

The San Pedro center came under sharp criticism last summer when a transgender Mexican immigrant with AIDS being housed there died while in custody. The family claimed Victor Arellano was improperly denied medical attention, a contention immigration officials rejected.

Maybe this is the reason that Saulito's father has never been seen or heard from???????