Thread: TX: A look inside walls of immigrant prison

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A look inside walls of immigrant prison

Web Posted: 03/02/2007 10:32 PM CST

Hernán Rozemberg
Express-News Immigration Writer

RAYMONDVILLE — The domes stand out from the highway, as if a large-scale military camp had been set up in the middle of a pasture.
But there are no soldiers, just uniformed guards paid to closely monitor hundreds of immigrants accused of being in the country illegally.

In most cases, the immigrants' likely destiny is deportation back home, except for the lucky few who find lawyers to help them fight for a chance to stay.

The 10-dome complex is the latest structure in the government's growing archipelago of immigration prisons. The newer ones are being erected from scratch in a hurry, the older ones expanded, to fulfill a promise that undocumented immigrants no longer will be cut loose because of lack of space to hold them.

Most Mexican detainees take the quick route of a voluntary trip back to their side of the border. Thousands of border crossers from countries other than Mexico, however, had discovered they could go free pending court hearings for which few show up, so the government vowed last year to end its "catch-and-release" policy.

South Texas continues to lead the way nationally in the detention of such immigrants, usually from Central America.

In Raymondville, about 50 miles from the border, the latest prison was built in about two months for about $60 million. Willacy County officials have cheered, saying it has created hundreds of badly needed jobs.

The complex has space for 2,000 detainees, though on Friday the count stood at 1,691 — 1,250 men and 441 women.

Marc Moore, director of detention and deportations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Antonio, led a handful of reporters on tours Friday, addressing concerns and criticism that, he noted, came from outside the prison's walls.

"We're running a quality operation that provides a safe, secure, healthy environment," he said.

The government refused to allow interviews with detainees, although several of them and their lawyers had given consent. Moore said ICE prosecutors were not given enough time to review their files.

Detainees may have complained about broken phones or other routine items, Moore said, but he has seen no grievance forms listing such things as lack of medical attention or clean clothes or limited access to outside contact, including lawyers.

Yet those are among numerous complaints made repeatedly by current and former detainees who immigration lawyer Jodi Goodwin said she has represented.

Goodwin said she has no particular quarrel against ICE, noting it's the agency's job to detain undocumented immigrants. She has visited other immigration prisons and never heard the types of problems being linked to Raymondville, she said.

"Port Isabel looks like Club Med on the French Riviera next to this place," she said, referring to another, older detention center near South Padre Island.

Walking reporters around the complex, Moore and local prison officials — who were not allowed to be quoted by name — said the domed tents proved to be faster and more cost-effective to build than other construction options.

The 13,000-square-foot domes — dubbed "dorms" — are 205 feet long by 70 feet wide, covered by a flexible Kevlar-based skin over aluminum beams, designed to sustain winds topping 100 mph.

Each holds as many as 200 detainees, divided by drywall into four areas, each with five open showers facing five toilets. Moore said separations may be built between showers and toilets. Detainees sleep on steel bunk beds with nylon-covered mattresses.

The medical staff of 27 plus an on-call doctor has ample space and equipment to treat detainees, said the medical director.

In the kitchen, two workers poured large containers of liquid chocolate onto trays. Each detainee is entitled to one brownie, a worker said. There's no cafeteria — food is shuttled from dome to dome.

For recreation, detainees have Monopoly and one TV per area. Outside, cement basketball courts can be turned into small soccer fields.

Reporters were shown several dorms, mostly empty. Inside one occupied men's area, detainees sat erect and quiet on their beds, their backs facing the entrance. Women in another dorm sat quietly around steel tables bolted to the floor.

They can waive their 14 day stay and get deported right away.

Dixie