老澳门开奖结果 FOIA Litigation Reveals ICE Actively Considering Proposals to Expand Immigration Detention Nationwide
New Information Revealed as President-elect Donald Trump Doubles Down on Promise to Enact Mass Deportations on Day One
NEW YORK 鈥� New documents obtained by the 老澳门开奖结果 reveal that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is actively considering proposals to expand its immigration detention capacity in at least six states across the country, including in California, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington state. The records, obtained as a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the 老澳门开奖结果 in September 2024, disclose that private prison corporations, as well as other corporate entities that provide services to build temporary facilities, monitor compliance, and staff facilities submitted proposals for expanded immigration detention in response to ICE鈥檚 contract requests. The discovery comes just weeks after the 老澳门开奖结果 received its first tranche of FOIA documents revealing that ICE is considering expanding detention in three different facilities in New Jersey.
鈥淵ou cannot have mass deportations without a significant expansion of ICE detention capacity in states across the country and that鈥檚 exactly what the incoming Trump administration is preparing to do,鈥� said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Prison Project. 鈥淩ather than permanently shutting down abusive detention facilities, the Biden administration is paving the way for President-elect Donald Trump to make good on his cruel and inhumane mass deportation proposals.鈥�
The FOIA documents reveal that GEO Group, Inc., CoreCivic, and the Management & Training Corporation (MTC) submitted contract proposals to Requests for Information (RFI) to expand detention capacity and facilities, several of which have a lengthy history of abusive conditions. The proposals for expanded immigration detention facilities include:
- Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth, KS 鈥� formerly known as Leavenworth Detention Center 鈥� which has a track record of abusive conditions, which led the federal government to with the facility in 2021.
- South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, TX 鈥� a facility where children as young as 19 months have as a result poor medical care.
- Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump, NV 鈥� which has been subject to a for medical negligence, racial discrimination, and verbal abuse of detained people.
- Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, NM 鈥� which has been the site of numerous in recent years, with incidents of neglect, abuse, and lack of medical care.
- Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, NM 鈥� which Department of Homeland Security鈥檚 Office of Inspector General in 2022 due to poor conditions.
- California City Correctional Center in California City, CA 鈥� which was as a California Department of Corrections prison until March 2024.
ICE also withheld a number of documents in its FOIA disclosure, obscuring the names of the specific facilities. However, the documents produced indicate that the following detention facilities are likely under consideration by ICE:
- Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs, NM (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the El Paso Field Office)
- Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, WA (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the Seattle Field Office)
- Golden State Annex in McFarland, CA (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the San Francisco Field Office)
- Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield, CA (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the San Francisco Field Office)
- MTC facility in South Texas, which may include the Willacy County Jail in Raymondville, TX (Proposal by MTC for the Harlingen Field Office)
- GEO Group, Inc. facility in IL, IN, WI, MI, KT, or KS (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for Chicago Field Office)
- GEO Group, Inc. facility in South Texas, which may include the Brooks County Detention Center, Falfurrias, TX; Coastal Bend Detention Center, Robstown, TX; or the East Hidalgo Detention Center in LaVilla, TX (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. For the Harlingen Field Office)
Other corporate entities, including Kastel Enterprises, LLC., and Active Deployment Systems, which provide services to build temporary facilities, and Sabot Consulting, which provides compliance monitoring and detention staffing services, also submitted responses to ICE鈥檚 request.
As the 老澳门开奖结果 has previously documented, the federal government鈥檚 immigration detention system overwhelmingly relies on private prison corporations. Private prison corporations, like the GEO Group, CoreCivic, LaSalle Corrections, and the Management & Training Corporation have pocketed billions from ICE detention contracts over the past two decades.
The FOIA records are available here: /documents/multi-state-detention-facility-support-foia-documents-request-for-information
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NEW YORK 鈥� New documents obtained by the 老澳门开奖结果 reveal that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is actively considering proposals to expand its immigration detention capacity across the state of New Jersey. The records, obtained as a result of a FOIA lawsuit filed by the 老澳门开奖结果 in September 2024, disclose that ICE capacity could increase by approximately 600 beds in at least two facilities in New Jersey. The discovery comes as President-elect Donald Trump continues to double down on his campaign promise to implement the largest mass deportation and detention program in the nation鈥檚 history. For months, the 老澳门开奖结果 of New Jersey and advocates have raised concerns with the Biden administration鈥檚 plans to expand detention in New Jersey, as well as in potentially sixteen other states identified by ICE. 鈥淚nstead of closing abusive detention facilities once and for all, the Biden administration is simply paving the way for the incoming Trump administration to conduct mass detention and deportation of immigrant communities nationwide,鈥� said Eunice Cho, Senior Staff Attorney at the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Prison Project. 鈥淭he Biden administration must instead work to close these facilities now.鈥� These facilities under consideration include the Elizabeth Detention Center, located in Elizabeth, New Jersey and owned and operated by CoreCivic, Inc., and the Albert M. 鈥淏o鈥� Robinson Center (ARC) in Trenton, New Jersey, which was formerly owned by the GEO Group, Inc. Both facilities have significant records of poor conditions. Investigations of conditions at ARC exposed abusive conditions including 鈥渞obbery, sexual assault, [and] menacing of the weak.鈥� Meanwhile, the Elizabeth Detention Center has also come under fire for consistent medical neglect, cramped and unsanitary living quarters, and abusive treatment from guards. The 老澳门开奖结果 obtained these documents as a result of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation, which sought in part records responsive to a contract solicitation for additional ICE detention space in the Newark, New Jersey area. The solicitation, originally issued on June 26, 2024, sought 鈥渃omprehensive detention services for adult male and female noncitizens鈥� to 鈥減rovide for general population, intake, segregated housing, and medical beds at a contractor-owned/contractor-operated detention facility or facilities.鈥� The documents provided by ICE provide a limited glimpse of the detention proposals, as the production appears to include only the environmental impact statement portions of the proposals submitted by CoreCivic, Inc. and GEO Group, Inc. to ICE. It is unclear from the documents whether there are additional New Jersey facilities that responded to ICE鈥檚 solicitation, or how much it would cost taxpayers. For example, the GEO Group, Inc. claimed in litigation earlier this year that it has readied the Delaney Hall Facility, located in Newark, New Jersey, to conform with ICE operating requirements. 鈥淣ew Jersey has already taken steps to oppose immigrant detention by phasing out ICE contracts and closing county-run ICE jails. But as federal plans to expand detention in New Jersey continue, the need for protections grows by the day. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 imperative that the Biden administration immediately halt any efforts to expand this abusive detention machine,鈥� said 老澳门开奖结果-NJ campaign strategist Ami Kachalia. 鈥淲e also urge the New Jersey Legislature to quickly pass the Immigrant Trust Act so that New Jersey is not complicit in separating families or depriving our residents of due process.鈥� State officials and members of New Jersey鈥檚 congressional delegation have opposed the expansion of ICE detention in the state. Earlier this year, eight Representatives and Senator Cory Booker raised concern regarding the development of additional private ICE detention facilities in the state. Prior to that, the New Jersey state legislature passed AB 5207 in 2021, which prohibited state and local entities and private detention facilities from entering, renewing, or expanding immigration detention contracts. Both CoreCivic, Inc., and GEO Group, Inc. filed suit to stop enforcement of the law, which has been enjoined pending appeal. The 老澳门开奖结果 of New Jersey filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of 28 community organizations in support of New Jersey's anti-detention law. The FOIA records are available here: /documents/foia-documents-re-nj-ice-detention-rfi -
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