ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The American Civil Liberties Union is asking the Biden administration to close 39 immigrant facilities including the Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral, New Mexico. According to a press release from the ACLU, the Chaparral facility was selected due to its record of civil rights violations and reported inhumane treatment.
In a letter sent to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, the ACLU is calling on the administration to close detention facilities that it says were opened without adequate justification according to the Government Accountability Office, are in remote locations that limit access to legal counsel and medical care, and have documented patterns of inhumane treatment.
The ACLU reports that the fiscal year 2020 was the deadliest year in ICE detention in 15 years due to reports of increased use of force, solitary confinement, patterns of sexual abuse, forced sterilization, and COVID-19. According to the organization, there are over 15,000 people currently detained at ICE facilities.
The ACLU is calling for the closure of the following facilities:
- Etowah County Jail, Alabama
- Eloy Detention Center, Arizona
- La Palma Correctional Center, Arizona
- Adelanto Detention Center, California
- Desert View Annex, California
- Imperial Regional Detention Facility, California
- Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility, California
- Otay Mesa Detention Center, California
- Yuba County Jail, California
- Baker’s County Sheriff’s Office, Florida
- Glades County Detention Center, Florida
- Krome North Service Processing Center, Florida
- Irwin County Detention Center, Georgia
- Stewart County Detention Center, Georgia
- Allen Parish Public Safety Complex, Louisiana
- Catahoula Correctional Center, Louisiana
- Jackson Parish Correctional Center, Louisiana
- LaSalle ICE Processing Center, Louisiana
- Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center, Louisiana
- Richwood Correctional Center, Louisiana
- River Correctional Center, Louisiana
- South Louisiana Correctional Center, Louisiana
- Winn Correctional Center, Louisiana
- Bristol County House of Corrections, Massachusetts
- Calhoun County Correctional Facility, Michigan
- Adams County Detention Facility, Mississippi
- The Shelburne County Jail, Minnesota
- Otero County Processing Center, New Mexico
- Okmulgee County Jail, Oklahoma
- Clinton County Correctional Facility, Pennsylvania
- Pike County Correctional Facility, Pennsylvania
- York County Prison, Pennsylvania
- Bluebonnet Detention Facility, Texas
- El Valle Detention Center, Texas
- T. Don Hutto Residential Center, Texas
- IAH Secure Adult Detention Facility, Texas
- Montgomery ICE Processing Center, Texas
- Prairieland Detention Facility, Texas
- Farmville Detention Center, Virginia