Willacy Detention Center
Encyclopedia
Willacy Detention Center is a detention center located at the edge of Raymondville
Raymondville, Texas
Raymondville is a city in and the county seat of Willacy County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,733 at the 2000 census. It may be included as part of the Brownsville–Harlingen–Raymondville and the Matamoros–Brownsville metropolitan areas....
City, Willacy County, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
The facility is within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Prisons, and is managed by the contractor Management & Training Corporation.
It was the largest immigrant detention
Immigration detention in the United States
Immigration detention in the United States began in 1981, when the administration of President Ronald Reagan reacted to the mass migration of asylum seekers who arrived in boats from Haiti by establishing a program to interdict...
facility in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but is now used as a prison for repeat offenders who have been captured while crossing the border illegally".
The facility has been subject of numerous media reports and incidents related to alleged illegal conduct of personnel.
Construction and upgrade
Willacy was built at a cost of $65 million by Management & Training Corporation for U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security , responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security...
in May 2006. It was upgraded in July 2007. In June 2008, 1,086 new beds were added.
Management
In the summer of 2011, a new agreement was reached in which the facility was transfered from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Bureau of Prisons. However, it is still run by the private contractor Management & Training Corporation. The plan, at a cost of $532 million, has converted the facility to one that houses only immigrant prisoners convicted of federal crimes. The first wave of new prisoners began arriving on October 10, 2011.Financial
The new agreement provides that the federal government pay $49 per day for housing each prisoner, part of which will go to pay bonds used to finance the construction of the facility. Willacy County will also receive $2.50 per day for each prisoner to improve county finances. The balance then goes to Management & Training Corporation. For the county to receive a guaranteed payment of $1,259,250 per year, 1,380 prisoners or fewer must be housed, as that would be considered 50% capacity. However, if the total number of prisoners reaches 1,381 Willacy County receives $2,266,650 per year, as that would be considered 90% capacity.Under this new agreement, the maximum capacity of the facility is defined as 3,117 beds filled. At capacity, the county would received an extra $577,612 per year, for a total maximum possible revenue to the county of $2,844,262 per year.
Present usage of facility
The facility is now used primarily as a prison for "repeat offenders caught crossing the border illegally".Description
The facility comprises ten large, 13,000 square foot, domed stuctures constructed from a firm, rubbery, KevlarKevlar
Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...
fabric. These serve as housing units for the detainees. The tents are completely windowless with the lights kept on 24 hours a day. There are no partitions separating the showers, toilets, sinks and eating
areas.
There are several other buildings, with the whole compound surrounded by chain link fence and razor-type
Razor wire
Barbed tape or razor wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans. The term "razor wire", through long usage, has generally been used to describe barbed tape products...
Concertina wire
Concertina wire
Concertina wire or Dannert Wire is a type of barbed wire or razor wire that is formed in large coils which can be expanded like a concertina. In conjunction with plain barbed wire and steel pickets, it is used to form military wire obstacles....
.
Population
During 2007, the average population was 1,474. According to an standard Annual Detention Review by Creative Corrections on March 12, 2009, the facility had an average daily population of 1,217 males, and 236 females, with a total of 491,636 "man-days" during the previous 12 months.Between March 12, 2008 and March 12, 2009, the facility had a total population intake of 27,284.
As of March, 2009, the capacity for adult males is 2,750 males, and 250 females.
As at March, 2009, the basic rate per man-day was $78.00. In 2009, the average population was 1,381.
Departures
The following table shows detainees leaving detention during a 12-month period between approximately March 2007 and March 2008:| Nationalities (top 10) | Total | Deported/ Voluntary Departure |
Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Salvador | 7,779 | 7,599 | 97.6% |
| Honduras | 4,239 | 4,131 | 97.4% |
| Mexico | 1,245 | 1,022 | 82.0% |
| Guatemala | 796 | 707 | 88.8% |
| Nicaragua | 481 | 454 | 94.3% |
| Brazil | 215 | 187 | 86.9% |
| Ecuador | 117 | 53 | 45.2% |
| China | 69 | 5 | 7.2% |
| Dominican Republic | 69 | 43 | 62.3% |
| Colombia | 56 | 34 | 60.7% |
| Total | 15,502 | 14,406 | 92.9% |
American Bar Association delegation
A memorandum dated March 7, 2008, from the American Bar Association Delegation to Willacy, to James T. Hayes, Jr., Acting Director, Office of Detention and Removal, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, summarized and evaluated information gathered during an August 28m 2007 visit. Some of the findings are as follows:Detainees
- On the day of the delegation's visit, the detainee population was 1,216. This was lower than the normal amount, as the approaching Hurricane DeanHurricane DeanThe name Dean was used for five tropical cyclones in the Northern Atlantic Ocean:*1983's Tropical Storm Dean, which struck the coast of Virginia, causing minor erosion and flooding...
may have prompted an evacuation of the facility. - The detainees were from twenty-three countries, including Mexico, Panama, South Korea, Russia, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, but none from the Middle East.
- Detainees making asylum claims get transferred the facilities at Port Isabel, Texas, or Pearsall, Texas.
- Normally, a detainee stay for twenty-one days.
Staff
- Willacy is funded for 109 ICE employees, but the facility has only 60, with many of these ICE officers often being away accompanying detainees or handling other off-site activities.
- A further 422 employees from Management & Training Corporation work at the facility.
- Most of the guards are male between 19 and 24 years of age, having a high school education, and earning $6.00 to $7.00 per hour. Each undergoes a criminal background check before being hired, and all receive 80 hours of academy training, followed by 40 hours of on the job training.
Facilities
- Willacy has four immigration courts and a room for attorney visitation, normally with one or two judges per week to preside over immigration proceedings.
- Detainees are housed in "sprung structures" produced by Hale Mills, the exterior walls of which are constructed from a firm, rubbery, Kevlar fabric.
- There is a total ten housing units, each being divided into four pods, each approximately 13,000 square feet. The capacity of each pod is fifty detainees, with each building therefore holding a maximum of 200 individuals.
- There are no children kept at the facility.
Controversies
The facility has been the subject of multiple reports of abuse. Between October, 2011 and October 2008, 170 allegations of sexual abuse have been reported at Willacy. The 2009 audit of the facility states that over 900 greivances were filed. Four have been resolved.In November 2008, Alberto Gonzales
Alberto Gonzales
Alberto R. Gonzales was the 80th Attorney General of the United States. Gonzales was appointed to the post in February 2005 by President George W. Bush. Gonzales was the first Hispanic Attorney General in U.S. history and the highest-ranking Hispanic government official ever...
, former Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was indicted along with Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
and other elected officials, by a Willacy County grand jury.http://xicanopwr.com/2008/11/dick-cheney-alberto-gonzales-geo-group-indicted-in-south-texas/ They were accused of stopping an investigation into abuses at the detention center. A judge dismissed the indictments, and chastised Juan Angel Gonzales, the Willacy County district attorney who brought the case. Juan Angel Gonzales had himself been under indictment for over a year and a half before the judge dismissed the indictment.
Physical abuse
Former Willacy guard Sigrid Adameit claims to have witnessed two supervisors and two officers beating a detainee, knocking out is teeth, and leaving him with a black eye and broken nose. She claims that she was shown the video of the incident and asked to "clean up" the statements of the guards in order to make them consistent with the evidence. The following morning, the detainee was put aboard the "first flight" out of the facility.
Sexual abuse
Twana Cooks-Allen, a Former Mental Health Coordinator at Willacy, received numerous complaints, including harrassment by guards for sexual favours.
On June 22, 2011, Contract Security Officer Edwin Rodriguez was arrested, and subsequently charged with the sexual abuse of a female detainee.
Cocaine distribution
On November 10, 2010, guard Christopher George Gonzalez was arrested for allegedly conspiring to possess with the intent to distributed cocaine.
Human trafficking
In November 2007, four Willacy employees were charged in relation to their use of company vehilcles to smuggle illegal immigrants through checkpoints. They were allegedly caught smuggling 28 illegal immigrants through the U.S. Border Patrol's Sarita checkpoint, situated approximately 100 miles north of Brownsville. The immigrans were from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Two of the men charged were wearing their uniforms and driving a company van, apparently overloaded with the immigrants.
See also
- Illegal immigration to the United StatesIllegal immigration to the United StatesAn illegal immigrant in the United States is an alien who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa....
- Immigration detention in the United StatesImmigration detention in the United StatesImmigration detention in the United States began in 1981, when the administration of President Ronald Reagan reacted to the mass migration of asylum seekers who arrived in boats from Haiti by establishing a program to interdict...
- Immigration detention#United States
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement#Detention centers
External links
- Visitor information
- Annual Detention Review, March 9, 2007
- U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementU.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security , responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security...
: List of immigration detention facilities
- New York Times: List of immigration detention facilities
- Frontline (U.S. TV series) presentation Lost in Detention
- The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
story Border Policy's Success Strains Resources, February 2, 2007