U.S. Sen. Heinrich: Torrance ICE lockup ‘inadequate’ and ‘inappropriate’

This story was originally published by Source NM.

By Austin Fisher

On a recent visit to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement lockup in Estancia, staff members for U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) saw clogged sinks in a cell pod and a drain in the common area backed up with sewage water. They also noted that the tablet computers detained people use to access legal services were broken.

While inside the Torrance County Detention Facility on May 28, they heard at least 10 people file complaints with an ICE official for verbal and physical abuse; lack of access to laundry; being forced to wear old, dirty clothing; and lack of medical care, according to a letter Heinrich sent to Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons last Thursday.

At that point, “the ICE agent in charge prevented my staff from visiting” two nearby pods, Heinrich wrote, which is forbidden by federal law.

Heinrich is now calling on federal immigration authorities for a second time to terminate their contract with CoreCivic to run TCDF; relocate everyone being held there; and to close the detention center.

He outlined his previous attempts to document inhumane living conditions and physical abuse against the facility’s detainees, as well as lack of adequate access to legal services and medical care.

“It is clear that conditions at TCDF have not improved and remain inadequate and inappropriate for detention purposes,” Heinrich wrote.

His staff found new safety, staffing and sanitation issues, with multiple detained people there telling them that TCDF officials had turned on the water for only one hour every three days for showers and given them two bottles of drinking water per day. Toilets would not flush for days at a time, he wrote.

Heinrich wrote that TCDF Warden George Dedos confirmed Source NM’s previous reporting that the facility was without water from the Town of Estancia for three days. CoreCivic at the time denied “any claim that indicates TCDF has been without running water” as “completely false.”

Caty Payette, Heinrich’s communications director, told Source NM on Monday that ICE had not confirmed receipt of the letter.

Source NM on Monday morning sent emails seeking comment from spokespeople for ICE and CoreCivic.

Dedos told Heinrich that the detention center has two backup water tanks, but couldn’t answer questions about how much water they hold, how much the detention center typically uses per day or how long that capacity normally lasts.

“Neither Dedos nor the ICE agents present for the tour could describe any contingency plan for when there is another water outage short of the total relocation of all the detainees,” Heinrich wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General recommended in 2022 that officials create such a contingency plan, after inspectors found critical staffing shortages, safety risks and unsanitary living conditions in TCDF.

“As a nation, as an immigration enforcement agency, and as a government contractor, the United States, ICE, and CoreCivic have an obligation to protect the welfare and dignity of detainees in ICE custody,” Heinrich wrote. “For years, CoreCivic staff at TCDF have utterly failed at meeting the most basic standards for which they are contracted by your agency.”