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Background About Family Detention at Karnes Process of Seeking Asylum and Legal Protection
TEXAS
Contractor: The Geo Group Contractee: The Karnes County Commissioners Location: 409 FM 1144, Karnes City, TX 78118 Distance from nearest major city/hospital: 1 hour (San Antonio)
“ICE projects total costs of $271.1M in FY 2022 for family beds,” (per ICE FY 2022 budget)
Congressional Representatives: Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator John Cornyn
SAN ANTONIO
KARNES COUNTY RESIDENTIAL CENTER
1 HOUR BY CAR
BACKGROUND ABOUT FAMILY DETENTION AT KARNES
Family prisons have existed in many forms throughout U.S. history, including slavery, genocide and forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples, and Japanese internment during World War II. The so-called Karnes County Family Residential Center or Karnes Family Staging Center was previously an adult prison but in 2014 was converted for the detention of adult women with their children who recently arrived at the Southern border to seek asylum and other protections. With the exception of the period of time covered in this report and numerous changes in population in 2021, ICE has continued to detain families in Karnes since 2014. The nearest metropolitan area and hub for legal aid, San Antonio, is located 55 miles north of Karnes City. ICE oversees Karnes but the prison is operated by a for-profit contractor, The GEO Group, which owns and manages prisons throughout the world.
From 2014-2018, RAICES’ caseload primarily consisted of cases involving expedited removal. However, under the Trump Administration, ICE began to use Karnes as a “flex” family detention center, repurposing it and changing the population with various enforcement priorities. In 2018, families at Karnes experienced the Zero Tolerance policy, and the types of legal proceedings varied greatly from expedited removal.7 From spring to fall of 2019, the period of time covered in this report, ICE detained single adult women at Karnes over a period of six months. From the end of 2019 to July 2021, ICE detained families including those with two parents, subject to legal processes including Title 42 expulsions, Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), and expedited removal. In 2020, ICE detained
7. Under the Zero Tolerance Policy, the Department of Justice prosecuted all adults apprehended crossing the border without authorization with no exceptions for asylum seekers. People crossing for the first time were charged with a misdemeanor while all who had prior removals were charged with a felony. See The Trump Administration’s “Zero Tolerance” Immigration Enforcement Policy. Congressional Research Service
SINCE 2001, IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (ICE) HAS OPERATED A TOTAL OF FIVE FAMILY DETENTION CENTERS IN THE UNITED STATES.
These family prisons are for noncitizen families detained in civil custody during the adjudication of their immigration cases. The first family detention center that ICE opened was the Berks County Residential Center, opened in 2001 in Pennsylvania. The Berks family prison remains open today, although ICE is not currently using it to detain families. The government has expressed plans to repurpose Berks for adult detention.
The T. Don Hutto Family Residential Center was opened in Taylor, Texas in 2006. ICE detained families there until 2009 and has since used the prison to detain adults, making purported plans to convert Berks to an adult prison all the more troubling. The Artesia Family Residential Center in New Mexico, Karnes County Family Residential Center in Karnes City, Texas, and the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas all opened in 2014. While the Artesia facility closed in the same year it was opened, both the Karnes and Dilley prisons remain open today. At the time of this report, ICE detains families at the Dilley family prison and will detain adult women at Karnes.
