When the First Immigrants arrived at their New Detention Quarters at a Texas Military Base this Summer, they were Marched onto an Active Construction Site. Dust swirled and Excavators Hummed as Contractors raced to build the Tent Encampment, where Development had begun just Two weeks earlier and would go on for Months. Locked- Up in the Unfinished Facility, Migrants were subjected to Conditions that Violated at least 60 Federal Standards for Immigrant Detention, the Detention Oversight Unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) found earlier this month in a Contractually required Inspection.
The Detention Center at Fort Bliss, called Camp East Montana, Failed to Properly Monitor and Treat some Detainees’ Medical Conditions, Lacked Basic Procedures for Keeping Guards and Detainees Safe and for Weeks did Not Provide many of them a way to Contact Lawyers, learn about their Cases, or File Complaints, according to a Inspection Report.
The ICE inspection Report raises Significant New Concerns about the Safety of Workers and Detainees, at One of the Trump (R) Administration’s Marquee Immigration Projects. Expected to hold up to 2,700 Migrants at a time this month, and as many as 5,000 by the End of the year. Officials have Publicly described Camp East Montana as the Prototype for a New Breed of Large-Scale Holding Facilities, that will help ICE achieve its Goal of Doubling the Nation’s Detention Capacity by the End of the year.
“There is no way that this facility should be operating with their current numbers, let alone expanding,” said Michelle Brané (D), the Former Head of the Federal Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman under President Biden (D), after Reviewing a Copy of the Report. She called it among the most concerning Detention Center Audits She had ever seen, and said the Violations “will directly affect safety in very serious ways.”
After receiving a List of Questions about the Report and Interviews on Conditions at the Facility, ICE Spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa (R) said the Agency “had every intention to provide responses.” But after more than Five days, ICE had Not provided Responses to any of The Questions. Instead, Emily Covington (R), another Spokeswoman, said Monday that “ICE is happy to provide a thorough response following publication, after it has had the time necessary to reply.”
ICE’s website states that Immigrant Detention is Not meant as a Form-of-Punishment, but rather, only to ensure People show up for their Court Hearings and Removal Proceedings. And yet, ICE’s Inspectors found some People at Fort Bliss, were being held without many Basic Human Necessities. During the First few weeks, some Toilets and Sinks didn’t Work, according to a Memo written by an ICE Employee in August. By September, Inspectors found that only One of the Four planned Outdoor Recreation areas had been Completed, and it had to be Shared among 1,200 Detainees. ICE requires One Hour of Recreation time per day, Five days a week. At Fort Bliss, each Person was only allowed 40 minutes of Recreation per Session, and some Detainees reported only getting Three Sessions in a Two-week period. There’s just One Yard for everyone, and it’s a Tiny Yard.
Due to concerns that Detainees were Not being given enoughFfood, the Facility decided to increase “overall meal calories by 30%,” the ICE Inspectors wrote, noting in early September, that this Plan had Not been Implemented and was still Awaiting the Approval of a Dietitian. Inspectors also found that Detainees needing a certain Diet for a Medical Condition were being served a Generic “Medical Meal” that did Not necessarily address the Needs of their Specific Conditions. ICE Inspectors also said Contractors Failed to follow Mandatory Procedures for Medical Care. TSome Medical Charts were never Filled-Out and some Intake Screenings were never Conducted, Meaning, the Inspectors wrote, that the Medical Team could Not “identify emergent or past chronic medical conditions, mental illness issues such as suicidal/homicidal ideation or intent that could lead to detainee life-safety issue.”
One Detainee had been given Psychotropic Medication but there was No Record of that Person ever Consenting to it. Another had been placed on Suicide Watch but there was No Record of anyone Watching them. The Medical Contractor at Camp East Montana, a Florida-based Firm called Loyal Source, Runs Dozens of Medical Clinics for Migrant Facilities along the Southwest Border. In 2022, a Federal Oversight Aagency Blamed Loyal Source for “Critical Understaffing” of these Facilities that Jeopardized the Health and Safety of Migrants in Custody.
In Comments to Congressional Investigators Published in a Report this year, Loyal Source said it does Not have a Responsibility to Fully Staff All of the Migrant Facilities, because its Contract Only requires it to Fill a certain Percentage of Positions. The Company Partly Blamed the Government’s lengthy Background Check Process for its Inability to Quickly Hire New Staff.
In a Press Briefing outside the Base last month, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said the Facility would be part of an Effort to Deport Immigrants with “criminal charges or convictions” who have Exhausted All of their Legal Remedies. “We’re not talking about gardeners, housekeepers, or people like that,” Cornyn said.
The ICE Inspection Report says that Camp East Montana holds Migrants “of all security levels,” and ICE’s own Public Data says the Facility has Admitted both Criminal and Noncriminal Migrants. The Facility classifies Detainees based on Risk Level upon their Arrival and has a System for Keeping High, and Low-Risk Populations Separate from one another. The Report says the Facility does Not, however, have Good Policies and Practices for Keeping All of the Site’s Occupants Secure from Danger.
When Federal Inspectors arrived in September, they Reported that Camp East Montana had 286 Security Personnel for more than 1,200 Detainees. That’s only a Portion of the 452 Detention Officers Acquisition Logistics, told the Government it would Employ by the Time the Detainee Population passed 1,000, Contract Records show.
Inspectors also found the Facility had No Approved Security Policy, which would include Procedures for Finding Contraband that may Pose a Threat or Controlling Access to Keys or Equipment that could be used as Weapons.
Armed Guards Stationed along the Facility’s Perimeter were given Instructions about the Care and Handling of their Weapons, but the Instructions Did Not Explain which Situations would Justify the Use of Lethal Force, Inspectors Noted, calling this “a serious vulnerability.”
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
No comments:
Post a Comment