[link removed] [[link removed]]
Dear John,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operates a detention center in Torrance County, New Mexico that is notorious for its horrendous and unsafe conditions. Our Immigration Justice Campaign has worked to advocate for the release of people held in the facility.
Now, the spotlight on the Torrance facility has attracted the attention of government watchdogs—and we have stunning news.
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) paid a surprise visit to Torrance in February. Based on what they found, the OIG demanded that ICE immediately stop holding people at the facility, “unless and until the facility ensures adequate staffing and appropriate living conditions.”
Specifically, the OIG called out:
*
Critical
staffing
shortages.

*
Unsanitary
conditions.
53%
of
all
cells
at
the
facility
suffered
from
plumbing
issues.

*
Security
lapses.
There
were
not
enough
officers
to
ensure
safe
conditions.

*
A
non-functioning
moldy
sink
and
clogged
toilet
full
of
human
waste
observed
in
vacant
cells
in
an
occupied
housing
unit.
It is extraordinary to see the OIG demand that ICE immediately stop holding people at a detention facility. This speaks to the horrific and extreme conditions that ICE and its contractor CoreCivic have been allowed to get away with for far too long at Torrance.
But the findings themselves are not surprising at all. Cruelty and impunity are a consistent pattern across our immigration detention system.
Yet even faced with this new report from the OIG, the agency denies that there’s a problem at Torrance and is unlikely to comply with the recommendations.
ICE has proven that it’s unable to detain people humanely. It’s past time for ICE to close the Torrance facility and release—not transfer—the people it’s holding there.
Sincerely,
Jorge Loweree
Policy Director
Make a Contribution [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
ImmigrationCouncil.org [[link removed]] | unsubscribe: [link removed]
1331 G St. NW Suite 200. Washington, D.C., xxxxxx