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Related Material HRW Condemns Detention Practices of INS HRW Release, September 9, 1998
Locked Away: Immigration Detainees in Local Jails in the United States |
Louisiana: As of July 1997, the INS held contracts with twenty-six jails in Louisiana. Human Rights Watch visited or communicated with detainees in Orleans Parish Prison in New Orleans, Pointe Coupee Parish Detention Center in Alexandria, Vermilion Parish Jail in Abbeville, Avoyelles Parish Prison in Marksville, South Louisiana Correction Center in Basil, Beauregard Parish Jail in DeRidder, Calcasieu Correctional Center in Lake Charles, St. Martin Parish Correctional Center, in St. Martinville, Tangipahoa Parish Jail in Amite, and Washington Correctional Institute in Angie. Jail officials denied Human Rights Watch's request to visit detainees and tour St. Martin Parish Correctional Center and Avoyelles Parish Prison. Human Rights Watch was able to tour Orleans Parish Prison and speak with detainees as part of an American Bar Association tour in June 1998, but prior requests for access were refused.
Louisiana jails are holding many INS detainees indefinitely because their countries of origin will not permit their return, and the United States will not release them. At Tensas Parish Detention Center, INS detainees and local inmates were allegedly beaten severely by sheriff's deputies in October 1996, and in February 1998, three deputies pleaded guilty to civil rights violations stemming from the incident. The sheriff of Tensas Parish was also indicted on separate charges of beating a local inmate in January 1997 at the jail; his trial ended in a hung jury in July. Detainees held at Avoyelles and Orleans Parish Prison have also reported physical abuse.
Pennsylvania: As of July 1997, the INS held contracts with eleven jails in Pennsylvania. Human Rights Watch visited or communicated with detainees in Berks County Prison in Leesport, Pike County Jail in Hawley, Lehigh County Prison, Snyder County Prison in Selingsgrove, State Regional Correctional Facility in Mercer, and York County Prison. York and Snyder County jail officials denied requests for access.
In at least two cases, York jail officials allegedly treated asylum seekers who were suicidal as disciplinary problems and used four-point restraints to control them. At Pike County Jail, a correctional officer was dismissed in 1997 after beating INS detainees; nevertheless, the detainees were disciplined and locked in solitary confinement after complaining of abuses by the guard. In Berks County Prison, a Moroccan asylum seeker who spoke no English had approximately ten teeth extracted by dentists at the jail; during Human Rights Watch's interview with the young man, he broke down in tears while recounting his ordeal and confusion over being held in a jail.
Florida: As of July 1997, the INS held contracts with thirty-three jails in Florida. Human Rights Watch visited or communicated with detainees in Manatee County Jail in Bradenton, Fort Lauderdale City Jail, Hillsborough County Jail in Tampa, Corrections Corporation of America Bay County Jail Annex in Panama City, Jackson County Correctional Facility in Marianna, and Monroe County Detention Center in Key West.
In July 1998, serious allegations were made by INS detainees who reported that correctional officers at Jackson County Correctional Facility shackled them to concrete slabs and shocked them with electrified batons. INS detainees in other Florida jails also report having suffered from mistreatment and poor conditions. The state's jails hold many long-term Cuban detainees indefinitely, and many asylum seekers appealing their cases have been held for exceptionally long periods -- as long as three or four years.
Illinois: As of July 1997, the agency held contracts with fourteen city and county jails; in the INS Chicago district, all detainees are held in local jails. Human Rights Watch visited or communicated with detainees at DuPage County Jail in Wheaton, Ford County Correctional Facility in Paxton, Stone Park City Jail and Western Springs City Jail.
At DuPage County Jail, Human Rights Watch interviewed asylum seekers who complained that they were underfed and reported losing weight while in jail. Many of the asylum seekers in DuPage County Jail wrote to Human Rights Watch about their inability to obtain legal counsel. Sick or disabled INS detainees were held in small city jails overnight and on weekends where there was limited telephone access and no on-site medical care; detainees were not allowed out of their cells in the city jails.
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