A flood of raw sewage, including visible floating human feces, inundated two housing units of the Torrance County Detention Facility in November, prompting new calls for the refugee-holding center near Estancia be shuttered.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) has repeatedly sought a solution to the ongoing issues at the center, but has not much success.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as CoreCivic, the center’s owner and operator, have been the subject of numerous lawsuits over the past several years.
The latest incident prompted Heinrich to appeal directly to Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security secretary, who appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee in November, promising to become more familiar with the issues at the facility.
“Since our hearing, the situation at Torrance has grown even more dire,” Heinrich wrote in a letter dated Dec. 6, leaving the senator quite annoyed.
“I am growing exceedingly frustrated that my concerns have not been addressed, and (Dec. 6), I received a report from legal service advocates about a Nov. 14, 2023, flood of raw sewage containing visible human excrement in two housing units, covering half of the unit’s cells and a significant portion of the unit’s common area,” he wrote. “The sewage flowed into a floor drain in the facility’s dining area.”
This incident directly impacted about 40 men being in held and “guards directed the detained men to clean up the sewage twice, but did not provide them with protective gear, except for pairs of gloves provided to just two men out of the many directed to clean the sewage,” Heinrich wrote. “Approximately two days after the sewage floods, at least two men in (the unit) suffered from rashes on the soles of their feet and legs and from respiratory problems.”
An ICE spokesperson referred questions to Homeland Security representatives, who did not respond to a request for comment.
A CoreCivic spokesman said he was unaware of Heinrich’s letter until receiving it from a reporter. The safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care and our dedicated staff is our top priority. We continue to hear claims and allegations about the Torrance County Detention Facility (TCDF) that simply don’t reflect the quality of the services provided at the facility or the professionalism of our team. The reality is that we provide a safe, humane and appropriate environment for the individuals at TCDF and are constantly striving to deliver an even better standard of care.
Torrance County Commissioner Samuel Shropp, who has made repeated, unannounced inspections of the facility, said the issue goes far beyond what is presented by advocates for the asylum seekers, particularly in the present political climate.
“They have no power to disrupt the system in the prison,” he said. “Flushing things down the toilet and flooding it is an act of civil disobedience and not necessarily system’s failure.”
The detainees, who are being held while their asylum claims and background checks are being completed, have no other power to make a statement, Shropp added.
What is really needed, he said, is a system that works better and quicker to process the refugees.
“We need more immigration lawyers, and need to be fully staffing the immigration courts so that people asking for asylum can have their claim adjudicated quickly and either be returned or admitted,” Schropp said. “That is the crux of the whole matter.”
Throwing open the country’s borders – as many advocates seek – simply is not feasible, he said.
“As a practical matter, we have to know who is coming into the country,” Schropp said. “But we have to complete the vetting process as quickly and thoroughly as we can. These people have committed no crime here and have not been accused of any crime here.”
Still, going beyond that, Heinrich wrote that there still seems to be a systemic and ongoing failure tp provide humane living conditions at the facility.
Detainees who have spoken out about the incident have been targeted, Heinrich wrote.
“I have also received concerning reports that, in the wake of the sewage spill, TCDF staff have retaliated against detainees who have spoken up about these abhorrent conditions by placing them in administrative segregation,” he wrote. “While in administrative segregation, the men have complained to staff repeatedly about their lack of drinking water, cold indoor temperatures, lack of clean clothes, spoiled food, and denial of outdoor recreation time. They have also repeatedly been denied access to counsel, and a CoreCivic guard responsible for the night shift in their unit has repeatedly tossed the men’s belongings on the ground and threatened them with discipline.”
In an open letter signed by 23 detainees, they claimed that “there is no food or good treatment that will give us back the time that is being stolen and taken away from us.”
A spokesperson for CoreCivic said they were unaware of the letter until they heard it from a reporter.
“The safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care and our dedicated staff is our top priority. We continue to hear claims and allegations about the Torrance County Detention Facility (TCDF) that simply don’t reflect the quality of the services provided at the facility or the professionalism of our team. The reality is that we provide a safe, humane and appropriate environment for the individuals at TCDF and are constantly striving to deliver an even better standard of care.”
Given the facility’s track record over the past several years, Heinrich asked Mayorkas to shut down the center.
“As a nation, the United States has an obligation to protect the welfare and dignity of asylum-seekers in ICE custody,” Heinrich wrote. “Time and again, the CoreCivic staff at the Torrance County ICE Detention Facility have proven woefully unable to meet the most basic standards for which they are contracted by your department. Therefore, I reiterate my repeated requests for the Department of Homeland Security to terminate ICE’s contract with Core Civic and close this facility.”