(NEW YORK) MintPress – In a harsh letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Arizona expressed grave concerns about the constitutionality of conditions at an Arizona immigrant detention center.
Courts have ruled that civil detainees are entitled to “more considerate treatment” than those detained as part of a criminal process.
A report issued last October by Human Rights First found that despite a 2009 commitment to overhaul the immigration detention system, the United States continues to hold the overwhelming majority of its nearly 400,000 detained asylum seekers and other civil immigration law detainees in jails and jail-like facilities.
Conditions at the Pinal County Jail “violate the U.S. Constitution, as well as ICE’s own National Detention Standards, and continue in spite of the Obama administration’s pledge — honored mostly in the breach — to establish a truly civil system of immigration detention,” the ACLU letter reads.
“The confinement of immigration detainees at PCJ, at least under current conditions, has no place in any system that aspires to civility.”
ICE contracts with Pinal County to house up to 520 immigration detainees at a time while they are waiting for their deportation cases to be heard before a judge. The county is then reimbursed by the government for holding them.
Punitive confinement
The ACLU contends that detainees are denied access to outdoor exercise for months and sometimes years and that they are denied the opportunity to meet face-to-face with family members and must instead communicate using video monitors.
The letter says they complain of being given food with bugs, dirty laundry, insufficient toothpaste and soap, and of being subjected to verbal abuse from guards, including racial slurs.
Detainees also report that their cries for medical help are often ignored, they are subjected to frequent lockdowns, daily cell searches and regular confiscation of reading materials and commissary goods.
“The unlawful conditions have persisted despite repeated demands for decent conditions of confinement,” it charges.
In January, the ACLU and more than a dozen immigrant advocacy groups sent a letter demanding ICE terminate its contract with Pinal County, citing similar complaints. And in March, ACLU representatives visited the jail and found that conditions had not improved.
Officials dispute charges
Both immigration and Pinal County Sheriff’s Office authorities have disputed the allegations, saying the jail is in compliance with federal standards.
In a written statement, an ICE spokeswoman in Phoenix said that ICE officials were still reviewing the letter but claimed the allegations appeared to be “unsubstantiated.” Amber Cargile said the jail was inspected in March by DHS officials and found to be in compliance with “our rigorous detention standards.”
“Any allegations of abuse or misconduct by those charged with the health and welfare of ICE detainees are promptly reported to the appropriate entities for immediate review, investigation,” said Cargile.
In his own written statement, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said that the jail received a perfect score in an accreditation review last year by the National Sheriffs Association.
“Our staff training is excellent; we provide a very clean and safe environment for all who are detained in our facility,” he wrote.
ACLU standing firm
The ACLU clearly disagrees and may, in fact, take the matter one step further.
According to its letter, “The continued pattern of inhumane treatment and deficient conditions at PCJ — conditions inconsistent even with constitutional minima for convicted prisoners — not only make a mockery of the administration’s stated commitment to humane detention reform, but also present an invitation to suit.”
The organization is demanding that the government immediately remedy the situation or release those being detained.