Pinal County Jail: Demand Dignity, not Detention.

Every first Sunday afternoon  from 2-4pm I meet with some of these folks for a letter writing session - they write to the prisoners in detention, and I write to my state prisoners. We meet at the Worker Rights Center at 331 E. Willetta St. in Phoenix, 85004. Feel free to join us - these are some awesome peeps.

The ACLU of Arizona, by the way, put out this statement in January on the abuses occurring in the Pinal County Jail - it's worth the read, and has links to more comprehensive documents. There's good reason for ICE to terminate the Pinal County Jail's contract to detain people for immigration violations. If you're interested in joining future such vigils asnd other efforts to end immigrant detention and abuse in Arizona, please contact the Arizona Detention Working Group.

Imagine...

 Vigil for Dignity, not Detention

Pinal County Detention Center 

July 7, 2011

----from SanTanValley.com---

Vigil to Ask ICE to Drop Pinal County Jail Contract

San Tan Valley.com
by: Robert Haasch
March 4, 2012

Saturday afternoon on March 3rd, thirty-five migrant rights activists converged on Sheriff Paul Babeu's Pinal County Jail in Florence, Arizona. This was the fifth monthly vigil meeting at the jail to bring attention to the conditions under which immigration detainees are being held.

Members of the Arizona Detention Working Group (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arizona-Detention-Working-Group/280858511963997) are calling for the cancellation of the contract the Pinal County Jail has with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Pinal County Jail is run by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu. Sheriff Babeu has recently been in the news over allegations by the Phoenix New Times and ABC 15 that he has engaged in inappropriate behavior with students from a boarding school he used to help manage in Massachusetts (http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2012-03-01/news/babeu-s-reckless-behavior-has-enmeshed-him-in-what-may-be-a-career-killing-scandal/).

Prior to these recent revelations, the mistreatment of inmates was surfaced in 2011 by a report from the ACLU which cited a number of human rights violations. On the ACLU website (http://acluaz.org/issues/immigrant-rights/2012-01/1693), the issues cited were "inadequate medical care, insufficient hygiene supplies, no contact visits with family, no outdoor recreation and verbal abuse by jail personnel.

"These problems have persisted in the jail for many years. For example, in the winter 2010, ICE transferred hundreds of immigrant women out of PCJ after the women submitted petition letters complaining of abusive treatment. In the spring 2011, men detained at the same jail began a hunger strike to protest many of the same problems."

In addition, they released a nearly forty page report (http://www.acluaz.org/sites/default/files/documents/detention report 2011.pdf) detailing many of the abuses and shortcomings specifically about Pinal County Jail. Some of the complaints detailed vulnerable populations such as LGBT detainees who had been assaulted while in the care of Babeu's prison system. In addition, there were numerous complaints about sub-standard medical and mental health care.

On September 7th, 2011, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit (http://www.acluaz.org/issues/prisoner-rights/2011-09/1159) against Sheriff Paul Babeu accusing the Pinal County Jail of not allowing inmates to receive books, magazines, or documents exceeding one page long. According to the ACLU release about the lawsuit, one of the plaintiffs, Paul Wright, editor of Prison Legal News, stated "Publishers have a well-established First Amendment right to send their publications and books to prisoners, and it is unfortunate that rather than respect the rights of publishers to communicate with inmates Sheriff Babeu continues to try to defend the indefensible by banning our books and magazines."

I spoke with Leah Carnine in December 2011 at the third vigil and interviewed her about the conditions at Pinal County Jail (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42IxI6DVkQA). Some examples she gave were the lack of quality food, the lack of outdoor recreation areas, medical neglect, and the lack of contact visits between inmates and visitors. She mentioned that when these vigils were held, they would lock down the jail while they were out in the parking lot.

Leah suggested that at a minimum she would like to see a reorganization of the way the facilities are run along with incorporating community oversight. Leah mentioned that it should include an advisory board which would keep track of the conditions, regulates, and evaluates to make necessary changes. The advisory board would include input from people outside of the system.

At Saturday's vigil, Dorien Ediger-Seto of the Florence Project described that there were multiple facilities in the area which housed immigration detainees. There were approximately 1,500 immigrant detainees in Florence and 600 in Pinal County Jail. She stated that Pinal County Jail has the worst conditions of all of the facilities.

Dorien went on to say, "Unless you are an attorney or a clergy member, it is very difficult to get in for visits. Any visits you will have are by phone with a video screen. The food is really bad. Medical care is bad.

"That is the reason we decided to make PCJ our target in this campaign. The other reason we really want to talk about PCJ is because there is a really rich, strong history of folks on the inside organizing for better conditions.

"Pinal County Jail used to hold women and over the course of a couple of years, the women organized themselves, wrote letters, petitions, describing their experience inside. They sent them to the Florence Project, the ACLU, and anyone they could think of.

"Ultimately, after two rounds of this, PCJ was investigated. And mysteriously, a few months later, the women were released or sent to Eloy. So we wanted to honor that struggle, Today there are people organizing and going on hunger strikes all the time that we don't hear about because they are so far away. So we wanted to recognize that today."

Dorien has worked with the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project (http://www.firrp.org) since July 2010. As an intern in 2009, she co-authored a thirty-five page paper detailing the abuses of unaccompanied children by the Border Patrol (http://www.firrp.org/media/BPAbuseReport.pdf). The Florence Project provides free legal services to people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Arizona.

Organizer Carlos Garcia said, "I wanted to remind people that this may not seem like a normal protest with a lot of us here, chanting and running around. It's just significant how we took a whole Saturday to come out here to a place that most of us didn't even know existed.

"Even some of us who work on immigrant and migrant rights didn't know this place was here. We often forget what these folks go through. Every person who is in here has someone somewhere missing them.

"Their family members may be in there or their family members may also be undocumented and they can not come visit. There is no way that they have contact except by phone which also costs money. They are trying to raise funds for lawyer fees and so there is not much there."

Local Hip-Hop MC, Vpro Lific, then performed several spoken word rhymes for the group. Vpro Lific has been active in the Phoenix area with civil rights causes and is a regular performer at local actions.

Following Vpro Lific was local activist, Fernando Lopez. Fernando has been active working with Puente Arizona, performs spoken word rhymes, and also is a photographer. Recently, he spent a month inside Pinal County Jail and was at the vigil to speak about his experiences.

He described it, "I was just telling my friends daughter." She asked "How is it inside?" Fernando replied, "Can you feel the wind right now, and the warmth of the sun?" And she said, "Yeah." "Well those people can't feel that. We are so privileged right now to be outside and to feel the wind. I think everyone deserves that, right? The people in there are not able to feel that way. Some of them have been like that for over two years."

"I want to share a story. I don't talk about it very much. I've told a few people. Three days before my court date, the seventh of July, it was one of my cellies birthday. He was up for deportation and had been locked up for over a year. He wanted to be in Mexico for his birthday and that didn't happen because they didn't work weekends and it was a holiday three day weekend.

"We organized a whole tank, about fifty to sixty people. And we said we were all going to save our bread and peanut butter and we were all going to buy soups. So the day we were making the food, we were up early collecting food, collecting plates, and all kinds of stuff. We got fifty or sixty soups. We even got sausage and coffee. We just everything together in bags and with all the bread and peanut butter we made a cake.

"It was really nice because we had nine to twelve tables and even if they didn't have anything, we were inviting everyone to join us, and eat with us. The week before a few people had just come in there. And when you get in there you feel alone and you don't know anybody. A few of us had just come in there and a few of us had court that week and so we were wishing everyone good luck. So we prepared everything. We lined up all the tables.

"And then they locked us up. We were so ready to have our dinner and we were really mad because we had been working for this dinner since last week. It was some kind of sergeant who was kind of new. He replaced someone who was really bad. He got so many complaints that he got moved.

"This new guy was really nice. He came up to us and said as long as you guys keep it clean and quiet you can do it. So we did it. We had all these soups and this big cake. We were all lined up and sitting down. So we all sat in there and there was this guy from Jamaica. We used to call him Brother. He was a Christian man. He did all these prayers. He did a prayer in English and another guy in Spanish.

"Honestly, I can tell you it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. There are not only brown people. There are Asian people, people from Vietnam, Jamaica, and Germany. It was all kinds of people, united in just one community.

"We all sat and ate and it was so powerful. These people still have hope. It's just the situation of having to be in there. It is all they are thinking. They can not talk about much anything else.

"Some people just want to be sleeping all day because they are so depressed. They also have homes and families and people they love that are outside.

"This guy that just had his birthday, he left his kid when he was just two or four months old. Just imagine. I'm not a parent but just imagine not being able to see your kid for months, even years. And those people have hope that someone is doing something outside and I guess that's us."

Fernando also described how that he was writing letters to someone he had known inside. Fernando asked his friend to try to get a list of the A numbers (unique ID numbers given to immigration detainees) of the other people inside so that they could write letters to them as part of a pen pal program. The guards found out about it and took away his list and restricted his phone and library privileges as a result.

He mentioned that we all have it good outside and forget that there are people inside who need our help. We have the privilege to see the sunset and the people inside do not. So we at least have the opportunity to ask for something better for them.


Other Resources:

Photos of the March 3rd Vigil
http://sandangel.smugmug.com/Category/03-03-2012-Pinal-County-Jail/

Arizona Detention Working Group
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arizona-Detention-Working-Group/280858511963997

Puente Human Rights Movement
http://www.facebook.com/puenteaz

Vigil for Dignity, Not Detention
http://www.facebook.com/events/104497709674152/

Queer Prisoner Safety: AZ Prisons and Jails.

This article actually came out last June, but I missed it at the time - though I did get the ACLU's 2011 detention report put up: In their Own Words. That's a worthwhile read. Pretty heavy, though.

I'm actually posting the article below now because I've recently heard a lot from queer prisoners in danger at the Arizona Department of Corrections, and would like some help organizing my correspondence with and support to them a little better. I'm especially concerned about the undocumented prisoners - the queer "criminal aliens" - because I think they would be the least likely to get any protection from violence from this state.

 image from 

www.prisonercorrespondenceproject.com

 

Anyway, the issues raised below aren't unique to the Pinal County Jail. Please contact me if you're into queer prisoner support for folks in either AZ prisons or jails: 

Peggy at (480) 580-6807 /  prisonabolitionist@gmail.com

-------------from the AZ Republic--------------

ACLU decries danger for gay migrants in Pinal County jails

Daniel González
Jun. 24, 2011 12:20 PM
The Arizona Republic

The assault took place while Ramon Catalan, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was detained by federal immigration authorities in a Pinal County jail.

Catalan, a transgender man who lives as a woman, was in a cell when four other immigration detainees began insulting her in Spanish.

"One guy said he didn't want to be around a (homosexual)," said Catalan, who prefers to be called Monica and wears her hair long and plucks her eyebrows.

Then, the beating started. While one man stood lookout, the others threw her onto the floor, then repeatedly punched and kicked her. The attack lasted four or five minutes. By the time it was over, Catalan's face was covered in blood.

The assault was not an isolated incident, immigrant advocates and lawyers say.

Reports of similar attacks and other abuses against gay and transgender detainees are on the rise around the nation as the number of undocumented immigrants in custody has skyrocketed as part of the federal government's crackdown on illegal immigration.

In Arizona alone, the ACLU found five cases of transgender or gay detainees who were sexually assaulted or abused over a two-year period, according to a study released Thursday. Catalan was not among them.

The 36-page report, "In Their Own Words: Enduring Abuse in Arizona Immigration Detention Centers," is based on 115 interviews with detainees in facilities in Eloy and Florence from March 2009 through March 2011. ACLU attorney Victoria Lopez also reviewed hundreds of reports and records, including 500 grievances, some of which were filed by gay and transgender detainees like Catalan who were abused while in detention.

"While (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) does not systemically track the number of sexual assaults in detention facilities across the country, these and other reported cases very likely represent only a fraction of the actual cases of sexual abuse of immigrants in detention," Lopez wrote.

In April of this year, the Heartland Alliance National Immigration Justice Center, an advocacy group in Chicago, filed a civil-rights complaint with the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of 13 more immigrants.

Catalan, 27, is not named in that complaint. She filed a separate complaint in September 2009 with the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties documenting his March 2009 assault.

Margo Schlanger, officer for civil rights and civil liberties at Homeland Security, said in a written statement that her office is investigating complaints regarding LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) detainees, including the ones submitted by the National Immigrant Justice Center.

She said her office "takes these matters very seriously."

The National Immigration Justice Center complaint alleges that LGBT immigrants have suffered "systemic and severe abuses" while being held at facilities in Arizona and eight other states run by Homeland Security, including the facilities in Florence and Eloy. The reputed abuses include sexual assault, denial of adequate medical care, including HIV drugs and hormone therapy, discrimination, and an ineffective process for filing complaints, the complaint says.

It also alleges that one of the 13 immigrants was segregated for 14 months in Florence. The immigrant, a transgender man living as a woman, said she was told she was isolated for her protection. The ACLU report echoed many of the same concerns.

The complaint asks the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in Washington, D.C., to investigate the complaints and implement a new policy to address any violations. The ACLU report also calls for new policies and practices.

"These abuses are happening across the country. And this is really just the tip of the iceberg," said Jane Zurnamer, associate director of policy at the National Immigration Justice Center.

ICE, the Homeland Security agency that oversees detention and removal of immigration violators, is also reviewing the complaints, said Vincent Picard, an ICE spokesman in Phoenix.

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement takes any allegations of mistreatment or abuse very seriously," he said.

Ensuring 'health and welfare'

He said ICE has issued formal guidance to address care and housing of vulnerable and special-needs detainees based on discussions with advocacy groups, including the National Immigrant Justice Center.
He would not elaborate on the guidance but did say, "ICE remains firmly committed to ensuring the health and welfare of all those in our custody and to providing the highest-quality medical and mental-health care available."

Immigrants are often held in detention centers while awaiting hearings in immigration courts to determine whether they will be removed from the country or allowed to stay. In recent years, the number of immigrants detained by ICE has soared as part of efforts by Homeland Security to crack down on immigration violators.

Through April 4 of this fiscal year, the average number of immigrants being detained daily by ICE was 33,390, up from 19,718 in 2005, according to Homeland Security statistics.

ICE uses more than 300 local and state jails and contracts with seven private facilities to house immigration detainees. In addition, it runs eight detention facilities of its own.

The agency deported 392,862 people in the past fiscal year, up from 291,060 in fiscal 2007, according to Homeland Security.

Zurnamer said abuse of LGBT people is a problem in criminal jails and prisons, as well. Although laws protecting them from abuse also apply to immigration detention facilities, LGBT detainees are more vulnerable to abuse because, unlike people charged with crimes, they are not legally entitled to court-appointed lawyers who can advocate on their behalf.

As a result, their complaints are often ignored, or they are deported before they can file a complaint, Zurnamer said.


"It's not whether (abuse) happens more or less (in immigration detention)," Zurnamer said. "It's that there is less accountability if it does happen."

Zurnamer said that abuse of LGBT detainees is on the rise because the government is detaining many more immigrants and that oversight is limited because the government contracts with many local and state facilities to house detainees.

Rejected by family

Catalan came to the U.S. illegally in 1996 when she was 13 to live with her mother and stepfather in Santa Ana, Calif. Around age 15, Catalan wanted to begin living as a woman but was rejected by her stepfather, so she moved out and began living on the street.

In 2007, she moved to Arizona. A year later, she was arrested by Phoenix police for prostitution. After serving a 30-day jail sentence, she said, she was turned over to ICE because she was in the country illegally.
Catalan was detained by ICE from October 2008 to April 2009, according to her complaint.

Before her detention, Catalan was taking steps to transition from male to female by taking hormone injections, growing her hair and plucking her eyebrows, the complaint says.

The complaint says she was awaiting an asylum hearing in immigration court when she was attacked at the Pinal County jail. The jail houses immigration detainees under a contract with ICE.

Medical records released on Catalan's behalf by Regina Jefferies, a Phoenix immigration lawyer, show Catalan was treated at Casa Grande Medical Center for cuts, bruises, a facial-bone fracture and a concussion.

"One punched me in the face. One was kicking me," Catalan said in an interview. "They tried to cut off my hair with a razor, but I grabbed the razor with my hand and wouldn't let go."

Catalan said the men who beat her threatened to find her and kill her if she reported the assault.

Tim Gaffney, a spokesman for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, provided copies of jail records showing that three detainees were disciplined and several others removed from the housing unit where the assault took place. The detainees were not charged, records show, because Catalan declined to pursue the case.

An immigration judge denied Catalan's request for asylum but ordered that she not be deported out of concern she could be persecuted in Mexico for being transgender, Jefferies said. Catalan is currently appealing the asylum ruling.

More than two years later, Catalan said she still suffers from the beating.

ACLU, Prison Legal News Sue Sheriff Babeu to End Censorship at Pinal County Jail

From Prison Legal News and the ACLU-AZ

--------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 7, 2011

CONTACT:

Arizona: Alessandra Soler Meetze, ACLU of Arizona, (602) 773-6006 (office) ameetze@acluaz.org

Washington: Paul Wright, Prison Legal News, (802) 257-1342,
pwright@prisonlegalnews.org


Phoenix, AZ – Prison Legal News (PLN), represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona (ACLU) and the law firm of Rosen, Bien & Galvan LLP, today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Pinal County Jail policy that prohibits inmates from receiving any magazines, hardcover books or letters of more than one page in length. The lawsuit, which was filed against Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu and Pinal County, argues this “postcard-only” policy amounts to censorship and prevents inmates from receiving Prison Legal News, a non- profit monthly journal that reports on corrections news and prisoners’ rights issues.

“Publishers have a well-established First Amendment right to send their publications and books to prisoners, and it is unfortunate that rather than respect the rights of publishers to communicate with inmates Sheriff Babeu continues to try to defend the indefensible by banning our books and magazines," said Paul Wright editor of PLN, which distributes approximately 40 book titles including self-help, educational and criminal justice-related publications.

According to the complaint, paperback books (limited to 3) are the only exception to the policy and those must be from “an approved publisher.” Over the past six months, jail officials have refused to deliver several PLN publications, including Prison Legal News and other informational brochures, citing “not allowed,” “only 1-page letters allowed,” or “not from an approved publisher,” and have also failed to deliver copies of PLN’s paperback books. The materials provide inmates with information on matters of concern, ranging from addressing their basic health and safety needs to litigating federal civil rights claims.

“As implemented by Sheriff Babeu, the postcard-only policy is clearly unconstitutional and serves as an excuse to censor books and magazines for no good reason,” added ACLU of Arizona Legal Director Dan Pochoda. “Jail officials who are serious about lowering recidivism and increasing public safety recognize that cutting inmates off from the outside world and denying them access to periodicals is counterproductive.”

PLN is asking the court to order Sheriff Babeu to cease the unconstitutional practice of censoring PLN and limiting inmate mail to short messages on postcards, and to compensate PLN for past and continuing injuries caused by the censorship. The case is Prison Legal News v. Babeu, U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. In addition to Pochoda, PLN also is represented by Ernest Galvan and Kenneth M. Walczak of Rosen, Bien & Galvan, LLP in San Francisco, and Lance Weber, in-house counsel for the non-profit Human Rights Defense Center, the parent organization of Prison Legal News.

Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), founded in 1990 with offices in Brattleboro, Vermont, is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting human rights in U.S. detention facilities. HRDC publishes Prison Legal News, a monthly magazine that includes reports, reviews and analysis of court rulings and news related to prisoners’ rights and criminal justice issues. PLN has approximately 7,000 subscribers nationwide and operates a website (www.prisonlegalnews.org) that includes a comprehensive database of prison and jail-related articles, news reports, court rulings, verdicts, settlements and related documents.

The complaint is available on-line at: www.acluaz.org.

--American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
of Arizona - Media Relations Office
P.O. Box 17148
Phoenix, AZ 85011
Tel: 602-650-1854 Fax: 602-650-1376
http://www.acluaz.org

ACLU-AZ: "In their Own Words" Detention abuse.

This broke my heart, and is sadly nothing new - except that it's so well-documented now. I have to say that the ACLU of Arizona has been earning their keep here recently...thanks to Dan Pochoda and crew for all their work. Sorry I don't always give you enough credit - you really did come through here. Victoria Lopez - you're especially amazing. You get our Human Rights Warrior award today.

------------from the ACLU-AZ website-----------

ACLU Urges Termination of Contract with Pinal County Jail

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 23, 2011

Contact: Alessandra Soler Meetze 602-418-5499 (cell) or 602-773-6006 (office)

PHOENIX – The U.S. government’s heavy reliance on immigration detention has led to inhumane conditions in Arizona’s five immigration detention centers, unnecessary and prolonged detention and abusive treatment of immigrants, according to a new report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona. The 36-page report, “In Their Own Words: Enduring Abuse in Arizona Immigration Detention Centers." is the most comprehensive report documenting the experiences of immigrants detained by the federal government in Arizona.

“Many of the men and women that we spoke to are needlessly detained for many months to several years in terrible conditions that jeopardize their safety and well-being,” said ACLU of Arizona staff attorney Victoria Lopez, who authored the report based on 115 face-to-face interviews conducted with people detained in Eloy and Florence, Arizona over a two-year period from March 2009 through March 2011. “Until there is independent oversight and monitoring of facilities where immigration detainees are held, detainees have no choice but to speak up for themselves.”

As part of the ACLU’s documentation efforts, Lopez spent countless hours corresponding with detainees, interviewing their family members, and culling through hundreds of government records, including more than 500 grievances. The report illustrates the real stories of people, including vulnerable women and transgender detainees, who have suffered from abuses related to inhumane conditions and inadequate legal protections while detained.

According to the report, flawed immigration policies, including local immigration enforcement, have led to a 58% increase in immigration detention in Arizona over the past six years. In addition, because there are no legally-enforceable standards and the majority of immigration detention centers in Arizona are operated by either private corporations or a local county jail, there is very little oversight over the delivery of medical care, grievance procedures, and overall treatment of detainees.

One of the cases cited by the ACLU in its report documents the story of Leticia, a single mother of two U.S. citizen children with no criminal history who was detained for almost two years by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Pinal County Jail (PCJ), which is operated by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu. During most of that time, she was not allowed contact visits with her children or outdoor recreation and endured deplorable conditions.

Despite statements by the Department of Homeland Security almost two years ago indicating initiatives to reform the immigration detention system, major failures persist in the Arizona facilities, the ACLU said. Among its recommendations, the ACLU-AZ called on ICE to terminate its contract with PCJ, which received “deficient” ratings in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and where the ACLU documented the most egregious examples of human rights abuses.

For example, in the winter 2010, ICE transferred hundreds of immigrant women out of PCJ after the women submitted petition letters complaining of abusive treatment by guards, insufficient hygiene supplies, and poor medical treatment. In the spring 2011, men detained at the same jail began a hunger strike to protest many of the same problems. Over the course of the past year, the ACLU-AZ has also received reports from PCJ involving excessive use of force against detainees and jail officials’ failure to accommodate detainees’ religious needs.

“No amount of cosmetic fixes will take care of the fact that immigration detention presents major fiscal and human costs for immigrants and citizens alike,” added Lopez. “DHS should take immediate steps to end its contract with Pinal County Jail officials who aren’t being held accountable and operate a facility that fails to meet even minimum constitutional standards."

With 3,000 people detained on any given day in ICE facilities in Arizona, the ACLU-AZ also called on the federal government to reduce the number of people subjected to detention in Arizona by utilizing more cost-effective alternatives to detention and ensure that conditions in Arizona detention facilities comport with basic human rights and needs.

Read the ACLU-AZ’s full report, “In Their Own Words: Enduring Abuse in Arizona Immigration Detention Centers."
###

Nuevo reporte de la ACLU de Arizona documenta condiciones inhumanas y políticas fallidas en los centros de detención de inmigración en Arizona

El grupo insta a la terminación del contrato con la Cárcel del Condado Pinal

PARA SU PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA
Jueves, Junio 23, 2011

Contacto: Alessandra Soler Meetze 602-418-5499 (celular) ó 602-773-6006 (oficina)

PHOENIX – El exceso de dependencia en la detención de inmigración por parte del gobierno de los Estados Unidos ha llevado a condiciones inhumanas en los cinco centros de detención de inmigración de Arizona, a la detención innecesaria y prolongada y al trato abusivo de inmigrantes, de acuerdo a un nuevo reporte de la Unión Americana de Libertades Civiles de Arizona (ACLU por sus siglas en inglés) publicado hoy. El reporte de 36 páginas, titulado “En sus propias palabras: soportando el abuso en los centros de detención de inmigración en Arizona”, es el reporte más exhaustivo que documenta las experiencias de inmigrantes detenidos por el gobierno federal en Arizona.

“Muchos de los hombres y mujeres con los que hablamos son detenidos innecesariamente durante muchos meses hasta varios años en condiciones terribles que ponen en peligro su seguridad y su bienestar”, declaró Victoria López, abogada del personal de la ACLU de Arizona, quien redactó el reporte basado en 115 entrevistas personales con individuos detenidos en Eloy y Florence durante un periodo de más de dos años, desde marzo de 2009 hasta marzo de 2011. “Hasta que exista una supervisión independiente y un monitoreo de las instalaciones en donde los detenidos de inmigración son recluidos, los detenidos no tendrán otra opción más que hablar por sí mismos”.

Como parte de los esfuerzos de documentación de la ACLU, López pasó incontables horas manteniendo correspondencia con los detenidos, entrevistando a miembros de sus familias, y seleccionando entre cientos de registros del gobierno, incluyendo más de 500 quejas. El reporte muestra las historias reales de las personas, incluyendo las de mujeres vulnerables e individuos transgénero detenidos, quienes sufrieron a causa de los abusos relacionados a las condiciones inhumanas y protecciones legales inadecuadas mientras se encontraban detenidos.

De acuerdo al reporte, las políticas fallidas de inmigración, que incluyen la aplicación local de leyes de inmigración, han llevado a un incremento del 58 por ciento en las detenciones de inmigración en Arizona durante los pasados seis años. Asimismo, a causa de que no existen normas que se hagan cumplir legalmente y de que la mayoría de los centros de detención de inmigración en Arizona son operados ya sea por corporaciones privadas o por una cárcel local de condado, existe muy poca supervisión sobre la prestación de cuidado médico, los procedimientos para presentar quejas, y el trato en general de los detenidos.

Uno de los casos mencionados por la ACLU en este reporte documenta la historia de Leticia, una madre soltera de dos hijos ciudadanos de Estados Unidos y sin historial de antecedentes criminales, quien fue detenida durante casi dos años por la Oficina de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de los Estados Unidos (ICE por sus siglas en inglés) en la Cárcel del Condado Pinal, la cual es operada por el Sheriff del Condado Pinal Paul Babeu. Durante la mayoría de ese tiempo, a ella no se le permitió tener visitas para tener contacto con sus hijos ni tener una actividad recreativa en exteriores, y soportó asimismo condiciones deplorables.

No obstante las declaraciones del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de los Estados Unidos (DHS por sus siglas en inglés) hechas hace casi dos años indicando iniciativas para reformar el sistema de detención de inmigración, persisten muchas fallas en las instalaciones carcelarias de Arizona, informó la ACLU. Entre sus recomendaciones, la ACLU-AZ hizo un llamado a ICE para que dé fin a sus contratos con la Cárcel del Condado Pinal, la cual recibió evaluaciones “deficientes” en 2007, 2008 y 2009, y en donde la ACLU documentó los ejemplos más atroces de abusos a los derechos humanos.

Por ejemplo, durante el invierno de 2010, ICE transfirió a cientos de mujeres inmigrantes fuera de la Cárcel del Condado Pinal (PCJ por sus siglas en inglés) después de que las mujeres sometieron cartas de petición quejándose de un trato abusivo por parte de los guardias, de no tener suficientes artículos para la higiene, y de un cuidado médico inadecuado. En la primavera de 2011, hombres detenidos en la misma cárcel comenzaron una huelga de hambre para protestar en contra de los mismos problemas. Durante el curso del año pasado, la ACLU-AZ también ha recibido reportes desde la PCJ que involucran el uso de fuerza excesiva en contra de los detenidos y la falla por parte de los guardias carcelarios de proveer acomodo para las necesidades de carácter religioso de los detenidos.

“Ninguna cantidad de remedios superficiales resolverán el hecho de que la detención de inmigración representa grandes costos fiscales y humanos para inmigrantes y ciudadanos por igual”, añadió López. “El DHS debe tomar medidas inmediatas para dar fin a su contrato con los funcionarios de la Cárcel del Condado Pinal, a quienes no se les está haciendo responsables y operan una cárcel que no cumple aún con las mínimas normas constitucionales”.

Con más de 3,000 personas que son detenidas en cualquier día determinado en las instalaciones de ICE en Arizona, la ACLU-AZ también hizo un llamado al gobierno federal para que reduzca el número de personas que son sujetas a la detención de inmigración en Arizona al utilizar alternativas que sean más rentables a la detención y que aseguren que las condiciones en las instalaciones de detención en Arizona se adhieran a las necesidades y derechos humanos básicos.

El reporte completo de la ACLU-AZ “En sus propias palabras: soportando el abuso en los centros de detención de inmigración en Arizona”, está disponible en-línea en este nexo: www.acluaz.org/detention-report-2011.