The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

In addition, recent media focus of 62 detainee in-custody deaths since 2004 is prompting some members of Congress to question U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials about safe and humane conditions for immigrants awaiting court hearings.

The report was released last Friday by the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan federal agency assigned by Congress to watchdog governmental organizations. Driven by complaints brought by advocacy groups about the treatment of immigrant detainees, Congress ordered the investigation.

The report covers 23 detention facilities nationwide, including the Cowlitz County Juvenile Detention Facility in Washington and Tacoma's Northwest Detention Center, where most of the 167 workers arrested in a recent North Portland raid were sent.

Judged by eight standards, the report produced mixed results, with legal access failing across the board. In addition, the immigrant detention system fell short of effectively tracking detainee complaints.

At nearly all facilities, results show a pervasive lack of access to a free telephone service to reach respective consulates, an approved list of legal-aide lines and the federal complaint hot line.

"If you were arrested in a foreign country, you would have the expectation that you could contact your consulate or legal representation, and that couldn't be done at these facilities," said Rich Stana, the GAO's director for homeland security and justice.

The report shows that the number of detainees has more than tripled from 95,000 to 283,000 in the past five years, prompting a quick expansion of detainment facilities.

"Despite enormous growth, the vast majority of cases are in compliance," said Lorie Dankers, an ICE spokeswoman.

In a lengthy response to the report, the immigration agency stated that it will follow the recommendations. But it argued that the phone access problem was not investigated accurately and that all other discrepancies are isolated incidents.

"We stand by the fact that these isolated deficiencies will be dealt with, and there are not patterns of noncompliance nationally," Dankers said.

A variety of flaws

At the Cowlitz County Juvenile Detention Center, GAO inspectors found that no medical screening was performed at admission and first-aid kits were not available, as required. Juveniles are kept at the facility an average of 24 hours before they are transferred.

In addition to other food complaints, the investigation found that juveniles at the facility received one hot meal per day rather than two as required by ICE Juvenile Food Standard. The facility also did not include grievance procedures in its handbook.

At Tacoma's Northwest Detention Center, the primary problem was telephone access. Detainees were offered only two voice prompt options when attempting to use the free system: to place a "collect call" and to place a "credit card call," the GAO report says.
Neil Clarke, field office director for the immigration agency's detention and removal operations in the Northwest, has been working to correct problems, Dankers said.

She pointed out the agency's last annual review of the Tacoma center earned a "superior" ranking.

"We recognize the national phone contract has flaws," Dankers said, adding that the phone system is being monitored weekly and there have been no detainee complaints about it since April.

"If you think of the myriad of services we provide, I would say the facility in Tacoma and in the northwest area of operation is well run," she said.

That's an assertion Congress, government agencies and advocacy groups have put to the test more than once this year.

In January, a report released by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General found noncompliance in, among other areas, medical care, suicide watch, safety and disciplinary policy.

In addition to the current report detailing problems at detention facilities, the GAO will begin another investigation of medical conditions in detention centers.

Recently, members of Congress have raised questions about ICE's acknowledgement of 62 in-custody deaths, reported by The New York Times in late June. That's more than the 20 previously known. According to the report, immigration officials declined to release information about the deaths.

"I'll be honest and say I thought the agency's defense was quite cavalier and, hopefully, is not a reflection of their responsibility in the deaths," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who was among the lead requesters of the GAO investigation.

"We had heard some very serious reports about problems in some facilities," Lofgren said, adding that the investigation results are a sampling, not a complete review. "This has been a helpful first step forward."

Advocates fight back

Critics of unregulated immigration say the GAO report does not tell the full story behind the immigration system's flaws. A fix would require an overhaul and quicker deportation.

Throughout, the agency falters because it is overloaded, mired in politics and weighed down by mismanagement, said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a national group favoring tougher immigration laws.

To make matters worse, Mehlman said, immigration advocates, attorneys and families "throw sand in the gears" to fight and in turn, delay, deportation and "then turn around and complain about the inadequate facilities."

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed several lawsuits against a family detention center in Texas and two lawsuits against a facility in San Diego. Complaints range from overcrowding to health care and too much restriction for detained children.

At the root of the scrutiny are the federal government's standards adopted in 2000 to steer detention centers. While they set 38 guidelines for facilities, the standards are not legally binding.

Advocacy groups nationwide have launched campaigns to change that, and in January, one group filed an official petition to the Department of Homeland Security to turn the standards into rules.

Michael Wishnie, clinical professor of law at Yale Law School, submitted a petition to the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of 80 detainees and a half-dozen immigrant defense groups. Until now, the agency has failed to provide a response, he said.

"They are now a larger jailer, and they need to start behaving like a mature jailer," said Wishnie.

Esmeralda Bermudez: 503-294-5961; ebermudez@news.oregonian.com

©2007 The Oregonian