End Abuse At Center: de Blasio
By VERONICA LEWIN
Allegations of abuse and mistreatment of immigrants have elected officials all over the city calling for an investigation into a Queens detention center.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio held a press conference Oct. 6 to call for the investigation into private immigrant detention facilities amidst accusations of abuse. The Dept. of Homeland Security contracts private companies to house refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants awaiting trial.
GEO Group, located at 182-22 150th Ave. in Jamaica, runs a detention facility contracted by the federal government to detain those who attempted to enter the country illegally through JFK Airport while they await deportation procedures. The facility replaced the previous one in Rosedale and has 222 beds. According to de Blasio, two guards were convicted in 2009 for covering up the assault of an inmate. In 2004, 175 inmates went on a hunger strike to protest threats of deportation and the use of solitary confinement as punishment.
“This isn’t how our country should treat immigrants, regardless of their status,” de Blasio said. “We need a serious investigation into the charges leveled against this industry. Government should not be in business with any company that seeks to profit off of the mistreatment of human beings.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement updated its national detention center standards in 2008. The new standards were implemented to maintain consistency, safe and secure operations and ensure access to legal representation. Since then, there have been allegations of sexual abuse, rioting and staff brutality at GEO Group facilities, particularly the one in Queens.
“Private, for-profit detention facilities are making a killing mistreating immigrants,” said Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of Make the Road NY, the largest community-based immigrant organization in New York State.
Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton) has been calling for an investigation of the detention center since 2006. “This facility, which has been poorly placed, is a scandal waiting to happen,” Sanders said. “We said it five years ago and it appears that others are finding that it is true.”
The councilman and concerned constituents marched every other weekend for 18 months in protest of the detention facility. Some marches had turnouts of nearly 300 people, Sanders said, but the site remains open.
The Public Advocate wants the Dept. of Justice to investigate the accusations and strengthen oversight of contracted facilities. If GEO is found to have mistreated inmates, the public advocate would call for the termination of all contracts with GEO Group, which operates 7,000 out of 32,000 immigrant detention beds in the country.
To prevent the mistreatment of undocumented immigrants, de Blasio wants to establish an “Abuse-Free Zone,” which would prevent people from being sent to facilities with a history of mistreatment.
GEO Group declined to comment for this article.
Reach Reporter Veronica Lewin at vlewin@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 123.