The Puyallup Post VOLUME 22 ISSUE 3 | NOVEMBER 29, 2016 | PUYALLUPPOST.COM
SERVING THE STUDENTS OF PIERCE COLLEGE PUYALLUP SINCE 1994
Locked up Local immigration prison doesn’t meet national standards
Rebecca Dickson Reporter
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orthwest Detention Center, the privately owned immigration prison in Tacoma, has a history of alleged human rights abuses and violations of national standards for immigration detention centers. The Geo Group, the second largest for-profit detention center provider in the U.S., runs NWDC. The Geo Group has been found to have made over $1 billion in revenue over the past year and 1,575 detainees were held on an average day in 2015. Detainees at NWDC are arrested by immigration police or by local law enforcement when caught at the border without legal documents to live in the U.S. Undocumented immigrants are held on these charges in separate detention centers. Detainees will be held in NWDC until they’re tried 50 feet away in the Tacoma Immigration Court. Once detainees are tried in immigration court, they’re judged on whether they have a legal right to be in the U.S. If they’re found to be in the country legally, they’ll be released from NWDC, free of charges. If found guilty, detainees will be sent back to their country of origin. This includes youth, who perhaps don’t have a memory of their country of origin, or the elderly who haven’t been in that country for years. If deported, detainees don’t receive U.S. state or federal issued identification back. NWDC Resistance, an advocacy group against NWDC, said on their website, “while some (undocumented immigrants) are deported after only weeks, due to mandatory detention policies, some are held for months and sometimes years awaiting the outcomes of their deportation cases.” NWDC Resistance explains that constitutional rights aren’t protected for undocumented immigrants, and therefore 90 percent of undocumented immigrants are tried without legal representation, even if they’re minors. NWDC is infamous for its’ human rights abuses and breaking of national detention prison standards. In a 2012 review of NWDC by the Department of Homeland Security which outsources the prison to Geo Group, NWDC was found to be deficient in meeting national standards of the use of force and restraints, as well as the disciplinary system. In all use of force incidents in detention centers, staff are required to take close up images of all injuries sustained by detainees. Within 48 hours, staff need to have a completed report, which includes staff members involved, chemical agents used, type of force used
on prisoners, the reason why force was needed to maintain the safety of detainees and staff and the images of injuries sustained in a detainee’s file. However, according to DHS inspection report, no files reviewed by DHS contained these reports. All detainees are required to receive a handbook instructing the detainees on their rights while in any immigration detention center. In NWDC, inmates can receive the handbook in either English or Spanish. Translators are available on staff to translate for detainees who cannot read English or Spanish. The deficiency in the disciplinary system is because of this handbook. According to the report, all detention centers in the U.S. are required to have the statement “The right of freedom from discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, handicap or political beliefs (is protected).” However, NWDC left out the right of freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation in its handbook. In the 2014 DHS report, nine deficiencies were found in the areas of admission and release, disciplinary systems, food service, grievance system, medical care, medical care for women, sexual abuse and assault prevention and intervention, special management units and telephone access. The DHS found that a transgender detainee was strip searched without medical staff nearby, violating a standard in admission and release. Although it’s not a firm requirement, the DHS states that when there is medical staff available, they are required to be present during strip searches of transgender individuals. Another admission and release standard violated was a lack of an offered shower before being detained in a cell. All detainees have a right to a shower at admittance in NWDC. Four showers were present in intake areas, but detainees were not offered showers before being detained in cells. Food service is staffed by seven inmates. Although the food provided is up to standard, and the required 36 day rotation of food options was met, it was found that inmates are paid $1 a day and the dry storage unit had boxes stacked past the required 18 inch clearance of sprinklers, presenting a potential fire safety issue. The three compartment sink which is required to be used and labeled for correct food processing, was found unlabeled in the DHS inspection. Continued on page 3
The entrance of the NWDC sits on the side of a road behind several factories. Guarded from the outside world, only visitors Rebecca Dickson and inmates are allowed inside without special permission. Outside of the NWDC is an advocacy vehicle, offering legal assistance to those inside.