accountability Archives — The Goodis Center

Report: Contemporary Immigration Detention Practices in the United States (2010)

June 11, 2015 By Robert Goodis Leave a Comment

This report, prepared in 2010, documents the state of United States immigration detention practices, focusing on Northwest Detention Center – run by The GEO Group, Inc. – and on the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility – run by the Corrections Corporation of America.

The report was prepared by Robert Goodis as his Senior Project in fulfillment of the requirements for his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Human Rights at Bard College. The report concludes that further research is necessary to reach any viable sociology-based recommendations, and it is based on these findings that The Goodis Center has continued researching immigration detention as one of our primary areas of focus. While the report was unable to point to a sociological key to reforming immigration detention, it does unveil systemic problems in immigration detention across the United States and broadly offer the insight that alternatives to detention should be used whenever possible.

An excerpt from Chapter Three – Case Study: T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, Williamson County, TX, and the Corrections Corporation of America is included below. The full report is available for viewing and download here.

Excerpt from Chapter Three – Case Study: T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, Williamson County, TX, and the Corrections Corporation of America

T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, T. Don Hutto Residential Center, Immigration Detention, Detention Center

Read the rest of the report here.

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….. 1
Focusing on Asylum-Seekers, Asylees, and Refugees………………………………………… 1
Chapter One………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
A Short Introduction to Refugee Policy and the Definitions of Refugee & Asylum-Seeker ……. 3
A Brief Historical Survey of the Role of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in U.S. Legislation …… 14
A Survey and Summary of Select Laws, Doctrines, and Jurisprudence Affecting Refugee and
Asylum-Seeker Detention in the United States ……………………………………………………………… 17
The Response-Time of the United States in Changing Laws to Abide by International
Standards ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 34
Chapter Two – Case Study: Northwest Detention Center …………………………………………………… 36
The History and Purpose of the Northwest Detention Center and The GEO Group, Inc. …….. 36
Facility Design, Daily Living, and Detainee Demographics ……………………………………………. 38
Issues Facing Detainees at NWDC ………………………………………………………………………………. 41
Due process and grievances at NWDC ……………………………………………………………………… 41
Food, living conditions, medical care, and visitation at NWDC …………………………………… 48
Punishment and treatment by guards ………………………………………………………………………… 55
Administration and Oversight Issues at NWDC …………………………………………………………….. 59
Chapter Three – Case Study: T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, Williamson County, TX,
and the Corrections Corporation of America ………………………………………………………………….. 66
The History and Purpose of the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility and the Corrections
Corporation of America ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 66
Facility Design, Daily Living, and Detainee Demographics ……………………………………………. 71
Issues Facing Detainees at Hutto …………………………………………………………………………………. 78
Due process and grievances at Hutto ………………………………………………………………………… 78
Food, living conditions, visitation, medical care, and education at Hutto ………………………. 83
Punishment and treatment by guards ………………………………………………………………………… 93
Administration and Oversight Issues at Hutto ……………………………………………………………….. 97
Chapter Four – Analysis, Conclusions, and Recommendations …………………………………………. 102
The Human Rights, Social, and Legal Implications of Contemporary Detention Practices … 102
The Human Rights, Social, and Legal Implications of Contemporary Detention Practices as
Analyzed through a Sociological Approach ………………………………………………………………… 114
Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 125
Acronyms and Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 151

Abstract:

“Contemporary Immigration Detention Practices in the United States: A Study in Sociology and Human Rights” is a study on the detention and incarceration of immigrants, with particular focus on the effects and implications of detaining refugees and asylum-seekers, in the United States. The study reports on two specific detention facilities—the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, and the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility (a.k.a. T. Don Hutto Residential Center) in Taylor, Texas—as sociological case-studies, primarily presented as legal briefs, to explore how contemporary detention practices relate to the legal structure and ideals established by domestic and international law, including international human rights law. Through an analysis of how current practices satisfy or miss ideal standards set by laws, declarations, policies, and other such guidelines, this study determines that current detention practices constitute a clear and detrimental case of systemic human rights violations. While a brief sociological exploration of the trends and conditions in immigration detention offers various theories which may explain—and eventually go into forming an effective remedy for—these violations, this study can only determine that more research needs to be compiled in order to reach any valid sociological conclusions.

Read the full report, courtesy of the Bard College Digital Commons.

The report is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Browse our archive of full reports and essays.

GITMO to Chicago: Washington Must Take Action on Detention Practices

February 28, 2015 By Robert Goodis Leave a Comment

Photo of Chicago Police barricades by Seth Anderson on Flickr, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

An exclusive story run by The Guardian this week details an off-the-books site used by the Chicago Police Department to interrogate and detain individuals in secret. News of the Homan Square facility has left many of us wondering how long the Chicago PD has been resorting to these so-called Gestapo tactics, how these tactics could go on so long without public knowledge, whom will be held accountable, and where else is this happening. It also has many drawing comparisons to CIA black sites and the Guantánamo Bay detention camp commonly called GITMO.

According to The Guardian,

Alleged police practices at Homan Square, according to those familiar with the facility who spoke out to the Guardian after its investigation into Chicago police abuse, include:

Keeping arrestees out of official booking databases.

Beating by police, resulting in head wounds.

Shackling for prolonged periods.

Denying attorneys access to the “secure” facility.

Holding people without legal counsel for between 12 and 24 hours, including people as young as 15.

At least one man was found unresponsive in a Homan Square “interview room” and later pronounced dead.

Some news outlets, like Chicago’s WBEZ 91.5 – Chicago Public Radio, have pointed out that the Homan Square facility was not actually secret or off-the-books, and that local reporters had been to the site many times for interviews and even press conferences. A reporter from The Chicago Sun-Times told WBEZ that the site houses significant parts of Chicago PD’s organized crime and drug enforcement activities, and that many undercover officers—whose identities need to be protected—frequent the site.

The Chicago Police Department says advertising the location would put their lives at risk. A spokesman says gang members have been known to stake out the place to catch glimpses of undercover cops, a reason why some people might be denied access. But the building also has a public entrance where people can pick up stolen property and items inventoried in crimes.

MSNBC reported similar claims from the Chicago Police Department.

While the nature of the site is debated, the abuses highlighted by The Guardian‘s investigation remain troublesome. The U.S. Constitution does not allow due process exceptions for people in police custody simply because the police choose to detain them at a sensitive location. Al Jazeera America ran a piece on the Homan Square controversy, including an interview with Tracy Siska, a criminologist and the executive director of The Chicago Justice Project.

Siska argues that anyone taken to Homan Square is, effectively, under arrest and therefore entitled to a constitutional right to counsel.

“There is one definition of arrest in the United States of America and that is the moment your individual liberty is restricted,” Siska said. “The moment they slap cuffs on you, the clock starts running on the suspect’s ability to access a phone, lawyer, and when they have to be arraigned. Any police interference with that is unconstitutional.”

Other reports have explained some of why the Homan Square allegations may have failed to get attention until now. One such report by The Atlantic also featured an interview with Siska, who explained why Homan Square was relatively unknown for so long:

I think it’s because under the law, people have a right to get counsel when arrested or when held but you’re not provided free counsel like a public defender. Mostly who they take to Homan Square are black and brown and poor kids who can’t afford to hire private counsel while they’re in custody. That’s a little nuance in the law that few know about.

Some of the functions of the Homan Square facility may be legitimate, but those functions do not justify the volume and variety of alleged violations of Chicagoans’ human rights. In fact, some lawyers have come out and said that the alleged violations at Homan Square are not specific to that site, but run throughout the system in Chicago. Practices like these merit federal investigation, with an eye towards civil rights prosecutions, and highlight the failure of the system to police itself.

State and federal policymakers must not let the Chicago Police Department’s explanations and excuses distract them from the seriousness of this problem. Just as the leadership in Washington needs to take firm—and long overdue—action on GITMO, the American public needs to call on all levels of leadership to bring an end to these practices at home and abroad.

New Videos Emerge in #PascoShooting Case

February 15, 2015 By Robert Goodis Leave a Comment

Major news outlets and independent media around the world have begun following the February 10th police shooting in Pasco, Washington, in which three officers shot and killed 35-year-old Antonio Zambrano-Montes. Police were called to the intersection after Zambrano-Montes had reportedly been throwing rocks at nearby traffic.

Photo of Pasco police cruiser on Flickr by Richard Bauer, licensed under CC BY 2.0 — Photo of Pasco police cruiser via Flickr user Richard Bauer, licensed under CC BY 2.0

A few videos of the incident have surfaced, showing Zambrano-Montes throwing an object at the officers and then running away. The videos appear to show officers firing multiple shots at the man as he ran away. When Zambrano-Montes turned around and appeared to begin raising his hands, the officers opened fire again from only feet away, killing him.

The Consulate of Mexico in Seattle and the President of Mexico have condemned the shooting, and hundreds of protesters have gathered in Pasco to demand justice.

For more on the shooting, and a brief discussion on police use of force, check out our prior post describing the Pasco shooting, the assault of Sureshbhai Patel by police in Madison, Alabama, and the recent track-record of the police department in Richmond, California.

NBC news recently aired this coverage:

NBC coverage of the protests.

KEPR CBS 19 of Pasco, Washington, aired this video shortly after the shooting:

Local CBS coverage of the shooting.

Uncensored cell phone video from a witness (warning – graphic content):

Witness video from YouTube

A Tale of Two Cities: Police Use of Force in Richmond, CA, and Pasco, WA

February 15, 2015 By Robert Goodis Leave a Comment

Pasco Washington Police SUV — Photo of Pasco, WA, police vehicle by Flickr user Richard Bauer, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

On Tuesday, February 10th, three police officers in Pasco, Washington, fatally shot a man who had been throwing rocks. The case has sparked local protests and talk of an investigation in Pasco, a city of about 68,000 people located some 215 miles southeast of Seattle. The victim, Antonio Zambrano-Montes, was a citizen of Mexico and the fourth person to be killed by Pasco police in 7 months (that’s more fatal police shootings than happen in some entire countries in a year, or longer).

While the victim’s family has filed a lawsuit claiming that the police murdered Mr. Zambrano-Montes “execution style,” the Pasco police chief exchanged letters with Eduardo Baca, Consul of Mexico. The Consulate of Mexico in Seattle expressed “deep concern over the unwarranted use of lethal force against an unarmed Mexican national by police officers.”

This exchange mirrors some of what is happening with police in Madison, Alabama, after Madison Police Officer Eric Parker turned himself in to face charges of assault in the third degree. Officer Parker threw a 57-year-old Indian citizen to the ground during a “brief encounter” that left Sureshbhai Patel partially paralyzed. A spokesman for the Indian government said this weekend

“What we will communicate is that we are extremely disturbed. This is a matter of concern for us, and India and the U.S. as open pluralist societies need to address these issues and find ways in a mature manner so that these are aberrations and are not the norm.”

While law enforcement, media outlets, and statisticians debate whether police shootings are on the rise in the United States, occurrences like these may bring the debate to a new level. These links are just a brief sampling: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Given recent events, it isn’t a far stretch to say that events like these could easily turn into international incidents, jeopardizing diplomatic relations between the U.S. and our allies, and even resulting in travel warnings and travel bans for tourists coming to the States. It is clear that U.S. law enforcement in general has been under worldwide public scrutiny in the aftermath of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

ferguson protest nyc — Photo of Ferguson protests in NYC by Flickr user Christian Matts, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

A discussion for another day will have to focus on why it is unfair—and both misinformed and unhelpful—to lump all U.S. law enforcement into one group. For now, consider the case of police in Richmond, California. Richmond is a city of 106,000 people near San Francisco, and an example of how leadership and accountability can prevent fatal police incidents.

…in Richmond, historically one of the most violent cities in the Bay Area, the Police Department has averaged fewer than one officer-involved shooting per year since 2008, and no one has been killed by a cop since 2007.

That track record stands in sharp contrast to many other law enforcement agencies in the region, according to a review of data compiled from individual departments.

Many observers and police officials attribute Richmond’s relatively low rate of deadly force to reforms initiated under Chief Chris Magnus, who took over a troubled department in this city of 106,000 in 2006. Magnus implemented a variety of programs to reduce the use of lethal force, including special training courses, improved staffing deployments to crisis situations, thorough reviews of all uses of force and equipping officers with nonlethal weapons such as Tasers and pepper spray.

The American public needs to take lessons like this to heart, and to call on our leaders for real change. If you’re not convinced, read this Op-Ed on The Washington Post from December 2014, entitled “What America’s police departments don’t want you to know.”

These issues reach the heart of our mission at The Goodis Center. While we are working to expand our research on law enforcement, and to develop educational and training materials for law enforcement in the U.S., the time for a national discussion—and for meaningful reform—is now. Let Richmond be an example of what can be accomplished with the right leadership, training, and mentality, and start calling on your local police to respect human rights and uphold their sworn duty to protect and serve.

Follow the discussion on Twitter:
#PascoShooting Tweets

Grandfather hospitalized, temporarily paralyzed, after encounter with Alabama police

February 12, 2015 By Robert Goodis 1 Comment

Sureshbhai Patel Police Excessive Force Brutality — Photo by Chirag Patel showing his father’s injuries after a brief encounter with police in Madison, Alabama

Sureshbhai Patel, 57, flew from India to the suburbs of Madison, Alabama about two weeks ago to visit his son, Chirag, and his son’s wife and 17-month-old son. Sureshbhai planned to stay and help his daughter-in-law care for his grandson while Chirag was pursuing a master’s degree at University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Last Friday, Sureshbhai went for a walk around his son’s neighborhood, and never came home. Reports indicate that a neighbor called the police to report a suspicious person walking through the neighborhood. Police arrived and confronted Sureshbhai, quickly escalating the situation after what they said may have been a “communication barrier” (Sureshbhai speaks Hindi).

AL.com coverage states:

“He was just walking on the sidewalk as he does all the time,” said his son, Chirag Patel, this morning. “They put him to the ground.”

No crime had been committed. Madison Police on Monday issued a statement saying the department had suspended the officer and were investigating the use of force in this case. The police statement wished the man a “speedy recovery.”

Sureshbhai Patel is still hospitalized with serious injuries and temporary paralysis.

This story only highlights the great need for language access, cultural communication, and extensive use of force training among U.S. police agencies.

View further coverage on NBC, AL.com, and Times of India.

Report: Contemporary Immigration Detention Practices in the United States (2010)

Excerpt from Chapter Three – Case Study: T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, Williamson County, TX, and the Corrections Corporation of America

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract:

Read the full report, courtesy of the Bard College Digital Commons.

GITMO to Chicago: Washington Must Take Action on Detention Practices

New Videos Emerge in #PascoShooting Case

A Tale of Two Cities: Police Use of Force in Richmond, CA, and Pasco, WA

Grandfather hospitalized, temporarily paralyzed, after encounter with Alabama police

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