Immigrant lockup expanding

Web Posted: 09/26/2007 12:23 AM CDT

Hernan Rozemberg
[Express-News Immigration Writer

Seldom noticed, sparsely populated and mired in poverty, Willacy County in deep South Texas has become the federal government's top destination for foreign detainees, a move hailed by county leaders as the area's economic savior.

Already the country's largest immigration lockup, the Willacy County Detention Center for undocumented immigrants in Raymondville is slated to grow to 3,000 beds by early next year.

"We don't have Chrysler opening up a factory or McDonnell Douglas building planes," said Eddie Chapa, a county commissioner who voted for the expansion last month. "We've got this immigration detention center giving our people opportunities to get decent jobs so they can raise their families here."

As part of its ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration, the government has been expanding current detention facilities and building new ones in record time, abiding by President Bush's edict to end "catch and release." The decades-old policy involves non-Mexican detainees being set free on the condition they show up for deportation hearings, which most have skipped.


The Willacy detention center is a complex of 10 military-style Kevlar domes, each able to hold 200 detainees. It was built last year for $60 million in two months, opening its doors barely a few weeks after Bush visited the Rio Grande Valley.

With an estimated price tag of $49 million, the 1,000-bed expansion — construction is under way — will be a permanent brick-and-mortar building featuring a 500-person cafeteria and 96 isolation cells for detainees with criminal records.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the homeland security agency tasked with immigrant detention, declined an interview. In a statement, the agency said Willacy County has taken the lead on the project and ICE "has not made any commitments to utilizing any portion of it."

(Express-News file photos)

The Willacy County Detention Center will expand by 3,000 beds by early next year. The facility houses non-Mexican immigrants awaiting deportation hearings.




The center contains 10 military-style Kevlar domes. The expansion will be a permanent brick-and-mortar building with 96 isolation cells.

County leaders said it was the government that asked for more space.

They point to a contract modification document that ICE filed with the county in June in which they asked to increase capacity "by 1,000 beds in support of national detention efforts in response to Operation Reservation Guaranteed, the Secure Border Initiative (SBI) and all other future initiatives requiring detention of illegal immigrants."

The document specified the extra beds would be filled assuming ICE receives sufficient funds next year.

But taking a risk on the immigration lockup is nothing new to county leaders, who approved it on the fly.

The county hadn't yet formed the public facilities corporation board in charge of the project, hadn't yet issued bonds and hadn't yet officially picked a builder, but the Houston contractor eventually given the job started moving dirt anyway, arguing it couldn't waste time to meet tight deadlines.

On the fast track

The fast-track process dazed residents, some who concluded the county was in cahoots with the Utah-based brokerage firm that is financing the deal and handpicking the builder and manager of the detention center.


With the same team behind the expansion, some local activists were crying foul.

County leaders backing the project dismissed criticism as unfounded and pointed to the numerous benefits the county is reaping from the deal. Hundreds of jobs have been created, plus, under the terms of the current contract with the government, the county receives as much as $5,000 daily from ICE, depending on the detainee count.

Willacy County, about 45 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, is one of the poorest counties in the state and the nation. Home to 20,645 people, it has a per capita income of $9,421 — nearly one-third below the poverty line. Nearly half of the population lives in Raymondville, the county seat and home to four detention facilities, including the one for immigrants.

Some other projects, such as a couple of new hotels and a Wal-Mart expansion, have helped the local economy, but it's the area's detention center boom that has spurred major growth, said Jacqueline Roberson, Raymondville's economic development director.

Before the first one, unemployment stood at 22 percent, she said, gradually dropping to an all-time low of 7.7 percent in May. Of all four lockups, the immigration center has been the greatest boon — its 425 full-time employees already make it the city's largest employer, surpassing the local school district, and the expansion is expected to add as many as 270 jobs, paying as much as $12 per hour.

Some local leaders were more hesitant about backing the expansion.

Aurelio Guerra, a Willacy County commissioner, said he felt leery about voting because he received a copy of the contract just a few hours before meeting to discuss it.

He abstained but said he likely would have voted in favor had he had more time for review.

"I just feel we could have negotiated a bit more instead of going directly with the operator's recommendation," Guerra said. "But it's definitely a good thing, creating jobs that will improve the lives of our families."

Some question project

The expansion didn't create a large-scale uproar in opposition, but a small group of activists questioned why the deal was sealed so quickly and without public input.

Billie Pickard, 82, who has owned a custom-made boot shop outside Raymondville for two decades, accused commissioners of violating open meeting laws by making backroom decisions. She said she also smells corruption because they went with the same players without even considering outside bids.

Pickard said pursuing legal complaints at the local level has proven a futile effort and she and a group of about 10 others are pursuing other legal options. She declined to provide details.

The problem is not simply about good government, but also about the type of place Willacy County wants to become, said George Reoh, 71, who has lived in Raymondville all his life.

Others may not mind, but "prisonville" or "prison city" is not the reputation he wants for his hometown.

"These prisons may not pollute the air, but they're polluting the soul of our community," Reoh said.

The middleman brokering the deal between the county and the government, Management Training Corp., said that not only is the local economy being infused with the immigration lockup's $19 million payroll, but also noted that the county is free from risk.

Mike Harling, the firm's executive vice president in Dallas, said the project is being financed through revenue bonds, meaning no county taxes or assets were tapped. And there's no doubt it's a good investment, he insisted, since the government is still reeling from an immigration detention space crunch.

Willacy County's top decision-maker, County Judge Eliseo Barnhart Sr., said the government has maintained constant pressure on the county to complete projects quickly, and that's why Harling was given fast-track powers to pick his team for the job.

He attributed opposition to a small cadre of disgruntled naysayers, noting that most locals backed the effort.

"Which problem would they rather have, not enough jobs or too many jobs?" asked Barnhart. "We're more than used to seeing our people leaving for jobs. Now, for the first time, outside people are moving in for jobs."

hrozemberg@express-news.net

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/mexico ... 6c7ea.html