The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Carter, R-Dist. 31, a former county district judge, said based on his experience overseeing the construction of the William S. Lott Detention Center in Williamson County in the 1980s and the Williamson County Juvenile Detention Center while serving as chairman of the juvenile board, the T. Don Hutto facility meets adequate requirements for detaining children.

“I have a pretty good idea of the standards a facility such as this should follow for detaining children,” he said.

Carter said the congressional tour of the facility was neither planned by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials nor Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) officials.

“We scheduled it because I wanted to come. This has become an ongoing issue in my district and I felt it warranted my attention,” he said.

Carter said when he arrived at the facility classrooms were decorated and programs were geared toward the education of the children.

“We talked about some of the issues raised including education and food quality,” he said. “I personally met with four mothers - two from Nicaragua, one from Honduras and one from Columbia, and asked them to honestly tell me about their complaints.”

Carter said the majority spoke on the length of time they were detained as well as several issues with the food provided to detainees.

“They were all claiming asylum. You have to understand, the process to file for asylum is a lot longer than processing them to get them back to their countries,” he said. “With the food, they didn't say it was bad, it's just not what they like or what they are used to.”

Although he did not sample the food, Carter said CCA officials allowed him to inspect it.

“It's very similar to the food you would find in a high school cafeteria in Taylor or Round Rock,” he said. “Green beans straight out of the can, fish or meat, pudding, fruit and cake - basic stuff that is healthy and edible.

“These people are from all over so the food is just something they aren't used to. They weren't telling us they were being starved.”

Carter acknowledged that in the past, the quality of meals for detainees was “not as good as it could've been.”

“Overall I don't think they are getting bad food,” he said.

As to the number of hours children spend learning, while acknowledging students did receive only one hour of education during the months of October through December, Carter said it was due to the lack of classroom space.

“Before, they had mothers attending school with their children because they thought it would be good for both of them,” he said. “When the population grew, it reached a point where they couldn't do that and folks at Homeland Security told them it was okay to reduce that time for awhile.”

According to Gary Mead, assistant director of detention and removal for ICE, when the facility first opened, children were given four and a half hours of education, one hour of recreation and one hour for lunch. Beginning in January, officials added an extra hour for enrichment education (music, computer skills or art) for a total of seven hours of education per day.

Carter said allegations from protesters comparing the facility to a concentration camp are ridiculous.

“I think they have a political agenda,” he said. “There are no reality to those statements whatsoever.”

Carter said it is important the United States have facilities that house illegal immigrants and their children until they can be adequately processed.

“We can't go back to the catch and release program. That is just a free ticket into the United States,” he said. “... We are going to have to secure our borders and this is the way we are going to have to do it.”

However, Texas State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D- Dist. 51, disagrees.

“These are not criminals. These are people who haven't committed any crimes. They're deserving of better than that,” he said.

Rodriguez filed House Resolution 64 in February which urges the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to consider alternatives to detaining families and children.

Rodriguez said he thinks there are better alternatives to the residential center, including programs such as an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, which would help children avoid detention and reduce the expense to taxpayers of detaining families.

“How do you not detain children that come across our borders with parents?” Carter said. “What do you do? Put them in foster care?”

As for future legislation, Carter said he plans to continue working toward immigration reform.

“This issue is a hot button one and it is important to my district and to the state,” he said. “We need to address it and the pitfalls intelligently. The American public trusts we are going to do it right this time. What we did in 1986 under the Reagan Administration granting blanket amnesty is not right. If people come to our country legally, I am for that and I support that and I think they should be rewarded, but it must be done right.”

When asked about the price tag to house immigrants at the facility, Carter said he was stunned.

Under the county's lease agreement with CCA, the company receives payment of about $2.8 million per month from ICE to house up to 512 inmates. The company pays the county an administrative fee of $1 per day per inmate held at the facility.

“That took my breath away,” Carter said. “Unfortunately when you are trying to do it right, that is the cost immigration is putting on the American people. It is a tremendous amount and it makes this crisis not only a human one but a monetary one.”
http://taylordailypress.net/articles/2007/03/01/news/news01.txt