In one of the prisons, dogs, sound grenades and pepper spray were used against the prisoners. In the other, sterilizations of women without permission have been reported
Photo: John Moore / Getty Images
Thursday, October 31
ICE stops locking immigrants in two prisons reported for serious abuses
The Government chaired by Joe Biden announced this Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will stop using two local prisons located in Georgia and Massachusetts to house undocumented persons under custody, due to complaints and investigations for alleged abuse.
“ We have an obligation to make definitive improvements . We will not tolerate the mistreatment of detainees or those who do not have the necessary conditions in terms of health and safety ”, declared the Secretary of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, in a statement.
The affected facilities are the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office Jail in Massachusetts; and the Irwin County Detention Center, Georgia.
The first is under investigation since last year for an incident in which guards used dogs, grenades, sound and pepper spay against prisoners for a dispute related to coronavirus tests.
The second has been denounced by several women who were allegedly sterilized without their consent.
The order to cease operations is must comply “as soon as possible,” according to Mayorkas, who also decided to terminate an agreement that enabled the Massachusetts-based center to examine those arrested for crimes in order to analyze whether they were eligible for deportation.
The number of deported persons fell to record lows in April, the month in which he expelled 2, 962 people, the first time since statistics have been collected that this figure is below 3, 000, reported the Efe news agency. Compared to the previous month with 3, 716 deportations, the figure fell by close to 20%.
Federal officials chose to close these two facilities primarily because the number of detainees in them has been reduced and “are no longer necessary from an operational point of view,” said a Department of Homeland Security official who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Washington Post.
But the fact that both prisons are under federal investigation for allegations of abuse against immigrants -Accusations that remain open and unsolved- also influenced the decision, as he added.
With information from Efe and The Washington Post .
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