Alabama`s only immigration detention center among nation`s 10 “worst,” watchdog calls for closure

A national watchdog coalition today called for the immediate closure of 10 immigration detention centers, a list that includes the only holding facility in Alabama.

“People continue to suffer in conditions that are an affront to human dignity,” said Andrea Black, executive director of Detention Watch Network, as the group todayidentified 10 centers as “among the worst immigration detention facilities across the country.”

“We are calling on the Administration immediately to terminate contracts with these facilities,” said Black during a national teleconference this morning.

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Col., among the speakers this morning, said that record numbers of Latino voters supported President Obama and expect action on comprehensive immigration reform. He said that reform should include an end to the “extremely costly private prisons” for immigrant detainees.

According to the Detention Watch Network, the federal government held about 380,000 immigrants in 2009 in about 350 facilities at an annual cost of more than $1.7 billion. In Alabama, ICE began contracting 15 years ago with Etowah County. TheEtowah County Detention Center in Gadsden now holds an average of just over 300 detainees.

“The conditions experienced by immigrants held at the Etowah County Jail are among the worst in the country,” reads the specific report on the Alabama holding center.

The report contends Etowah County limits family visits to video connections, offers inadequate medical care, provides “inedible and insufficient food,” and allows detainees no access to outdoor recreation nor sunlight. Much of the information about Etowah County comes from a visit and interviews conducted by the Women`s Refugee Commission last year.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement replied today that the agency has bolstered oversight of such facilities and that the agency remains dedicated to the “highest standards of care” for detainees.?? 

“ICE is in the process of fully reviewing the reports,” replied ICE spokesperson Gillian Christensen. “However, it is disappointing that the reports appear to be built primarily on anonymous allegations that cannot be investigated or substantiated, and many second hand sources and anecdotes that pre-date the agency`s initiation of detention reform.”

Detention Watch Network also noted that ICE itself had attempted to close the Gadsden facility in late 2010, but Alabama congressional representatives, including U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, intervened last year on behalf of Etowah County.

Etowah County officials said closure would have cost dozens of jobs and $5.2 million in revenue for the county. The jail is the only facility in Alabama with a contract to hold ICE detainees. Sheriff Todd Entrekin credited Aderholt for arranging meetings with ICE officials that continued the contract.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security review of the facility last year found Etowah County Detention Center “to be well managed and in compliance with the areas and standards inspected, with the exception of several minor deficiencies in the Detainee Grievance Procedure standard and the Funds and Personal Property standard.”

That report by the federal Office of Detention Oversight noted additional deficiencies in policy areas regarding food service and medical care. However, several detainees complained to federal investigators that they did not receive enough food and what they did receive was cold. The federal report rejected those claims. The report also noted and rejected detainee claims of inadequate medical care.

“Etowah County has had no issues meeting ICE`s detention standards and has always worked to accommodate the ICE detainee population,” said Aderholt, through a spokesperson, late Thursday. “The facility and the Sheriff`s office have had a great partnership with ICE over the years, and I will continue to support that relationship.”

Sheriff Entrekin was out of town and the spokesperson for the Etowah County Sheriff`s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During the press conference late this morning, Bishop Minerva Carcano of the United Methodist Church said county governments and private contractors are encouraged to detain immigrants for profit. “Detaining people has become big business in this country, immoral big business,” said Carcano.

The Detention Watch Network report on Etowah County contends: “Many of these individuals have final orders of removal from an immigration judge, but cannot or will not ultimately be deported, often due to the lack of diplomatic relations between the United States and their home country (such as Cuba or Vietnam) or because an individual is stateless. People in this situation often languish for months or years behind bars, with no idea of when or if they will ever be released.”??

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