Call for Just Treatment and AccountabilityinReevesDetention Facility; Support Immigrant Detainees' Rights

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  *Urgent Action Request – Call & Fax to Support Prisoners Rights & Demands*

*Detainees Take Action Protesting Inhumane Conditions in Pecos, Texas
Immigrant Detention Center*

Immigrants awaiting deportation who are being held in a private jail run by
the GEO Group began a protest last Saturday, January 31. The protest began
after a group of immigrant prisoners attempted to meet with the detention
facility's authorities, demanding that a gravely ill detainee be released
from solitary confinement and be taken immediately to a hospital. The prison
authorities refused to listen and did not take action. The detainees
responded by protesting after being ignored. Read more on the immigrant
prisoners protest below, after action request.


*DEMAND (see talking points below)*

*Humane Conditions and Treatment*

*Independent Access*

*Emergency Medical Care and Accountability*

* *

·        The media, legal observers or lawyers and family members are not
being allowed to see what has happened.

·        Demand accountability from the GEO Group and the Reeves County
Sheriff; they must be pressured to dramatically improve the conditions,
provide medical care and attention to all inmates and be held accountable
for the deplorable conditions and treatment they have given immigrant
prisoners.



*Call and fax -- Demand accountability and safe treatment for the inmate**s*
*! (see talking points below)*



** The Reeves County Detention Center:*

*Tel *(432) 447-2926 *Fax* (432) 447-9224



** Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties – U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS):*

Toll Free (866) 644-8360  [(202) 401-1474] Fax (202) 357-8298

Timothy.keefer@dhs.gov and civil.liberties@dhs.gov



*Office of Inspector General, DHS:*

Fax (202) 254-4285



*Office of Professional Responsibility, DHS Immigration and Customs
Enforcement:*

*Tel* (877) 246-8253 *Fax* (202) 344-3390



*ICE Office of Investigations Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Offices*

Tel (703) 285-6709 Fax (703) 285-6700



*AFTER YOU TAKE ACTION*

*Please call or send an email message to* lrivas@nnirr.org or
agarcia@nnirr.org after you have made a call or sent a fax. Please share a
copy of your communications and any response you may receive.

(510) 465-1984 ext. 304 and ext. 305



*TALKING POINTS*

* *

*1. Investigate immigrant prisoner deaths and other brutal treatment being
committed by guards and other local authorities at the Reeves County
Detention Complex reported by detainees and their families.*



Immigrant prison eyewitnesses have reported that in the last five months at
least five prisoners have died in their cells and have been removed.



Independent media, legal observers and immigrant and human rights
organizations must be allowed to meet and interview detainees and others to
determine the changes needed to uphold the immigrant detainees' rights.



The Office of Inspector General and other responsible authorities must
investigate the abuses and bring those responsible for the brutal treatment
to justice.



*2. Inmates are demanding medical care for all detainees, especially for
those who need special treatment, such as diabetes and others who are in
dire need due to negligence and/or no treatment.*



Demand that the GEO group guards and warden stop punishing immigrants
needing medical attention. Prisoners report that when prisoners ask for
medical attention they are punished and put in solitary confinement.



Prisoners are demanding immediate transfer out of this facility because the
prison is overcrowded and uninhabitable due to these deplorable conditions.



*3. No retaliation against prisoners who report or complain about the
conditions. When inmates complain they are immediately punished by sticking
them in the "hole" – solitary confinement.*



Prisoners are punished for complaining about the poor food provided and the
lack of sanitary conditions (rat and cockroach/insect infestation) in the
cafeteria, hallways and cells.



*4. Provide adequate and healthy food; provide heating and adequate
clothing, bedding and other amenities immediately.*



Prisoners are being forced to eat rotten food; the prisoners that prepare
the food complain that the kitchen is infested with cockroaches and they
have to cook the food under these unsanitary conditions.



*BACKGROUND*



Immigrants awaiting deportation who are being held in a private jail run by
the GEO Group began a protest last Saturday, January 31. The protest began
after a group of immigrant prisoners attempted to meet with the detention
facility's authorities, demanding that a gravely ill detainee be released
from solitary confinement and be taken immediately to a hospital. The prison
authorities refused to listen and did not take action. The detainees
responded by protesting after being ignored.



After the inmates continued to raise their complaints to the guards and the
warden about the treatment and deplorable conditions they were being
subjected to in the "Reeves County Detention Facility" in Pecos, Texas, the
detainees began a spontaneous protest. The prison authorities literally
laughed at the immigrant detainees' demands and told the prisoners that they
had complete power over them and could do whatever they pleased.



After the detainees began a spontaneous protest, a melee ensued. A fire
broke out during the protest and guards immediately left the premises,
locking in the prisoners behind. Some prisoners broke windows to get to
other detainees who were choking and fainting, overcome by the smoke.



Then the guards got into SWAT vehicles (or some type of armored vehicle
described as a "tortuga," a turtle, by an inmate) and began firing teargas
and rubber bullets at the prisoners who had been abandoned in the facility
that was on fire.



Afterwards, the prison guards forced the immigrant inmates to stay outdoors
in the prison facility yard on Saturday night. Since then, they have only
been fed once a day; they have little or no water and have only three
restroom facilities for almost 3,000 prisoners.



Last night the prison authorities said they would let the inmates back into
the facilities. But the prisoners are being forced back into a smoke-damaged
building contaminated with carbon monoxide from the fire. The facility now
has little or no ventilation since windows have been boarded up.



The Geo Group already has more than 2,800 prisoners in a facility meant to
hold 2,400.



Now, GEO guards are trying to force them to be held in the hallways and in
around the cells.



*To see more on the Reeves County Facility:*

http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/node/2064



*Reeves County Detention
Complex<http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/node/2064>
*

98 West County Road 204

Pecos, TX 79772

Go to
map<http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/DWN_Map/dcenters/-103.945991,31.311701>

*TEL: *(432) 447.2926

*Fax:* (432) 447.9224

*Facility Operator:* GEO Group

This is a *Private* facility



<><><>



*Frontera NorteSur*



February 2, 2009



Immigration News

* *

*Immigrant Prisoners Stage Uprising*



Details are still sketchy of an inmate uprising at a privately-operated
federal
detention facility in West Texas last Saturday. Reports in the US and
Mexican press suggest the revolt, involving hundreds prisoners at the Reeves
County Detention Center in Pecos, Texas, erupted after complaints of poor
medical treatment went unheeded.



Initial accounts report the uprising spanned two days, with inmates setting
fires and possibly even seizing guards' radio communication equipment. An
unidentified Reeves County official earlier told El Diario de El Paso the
situation was "dangerous" inside the facility managed by the Geo Group.



The uprising is now declared over, and as many as 700 former Pecos prisoners
are reportedly confined at another detention center in Sierra Blanca, Texas,
because sleeping areas were destroyed during Saturday's rebellion. Many of
the inmates at the Pecos prison were held on immigration law violations.



The January 31 uprising was the second time inmates have staged violent
protests at the prison in a period of less than two months. Although a
complete assessment of injuries and property damages was not officially
disclosed, at least three inmates could have been injured and hospitalized
in the latest incident.



Managed by the Florida-based Geo Group, the Pecos facility is among
many immigrant
detention centers in the United States currently run by private companies.
The jail has a capacity of 2,400 inmates, according to information posted on
Geo Group's web site.



Formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, Geo Group calls itself a "world
leader" in the privatized management of correctional institutions. According
to the company's web site, "The North American market is growing rapidly,
and we are focused on expanding Federal procurement opportunities."



Geo Group reported raking in $1.024 billion in revenues during 2007, with
income totaling nearly $42 million. Besides the United States, the company
manages prisons in several nations, including the United Kingdom, where it
also provides immigrant detention services.



*Sources:* El Paso Times, February 2, 2009. Article by Stephanie Sanchez.
Newspaper Tree/Associated Press, February 2, 2009. El Diario de El Paso,
February 2, 2009. Article by Nancy Gonzalez.
Lapolaka.com<http://lapolaka.com/>,
February 2, 2009. Thegeogroupinc.com <http://thegeogroupinc.com/>.
Investing.businessweek.com <http://investing.businessweek.com/>



*Frontera NorteSur* (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news

Center for Latin American and Border Studies

New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New Mexico



For a free electronic subscription email
fnsnews@nmsu.edu<http://us.mc633.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=fnsnews@nmsu.edu>



_____________________________________________

Arnoldo Garcia

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Red Nacional Pro Derechos Inmigrantes y Refugiados

310 8th Street Suite 303

Oakland, CA 94607

Tel (510) 465-1984 ext. 305

Fax (510) 465-1885

www.migrantdiaries.blogspot.com

www.nnirr.blogspot.com

www.nnirr.org