FLURRY OF 911 CALLS HAS BEEN COMING FROM ICE DETENTION SITE NEAR SAN ANTONIO
A detention center southwest of San Antonio used to hold people arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has experienced a flurry of 9-1-1 calls originating from inside, Wired magazine reports.
The emergency calls, sometimes made by staff and sometimes by detainees or their visiting family members, paint a picture of dire conditions inside, immigrant advocates argue. The subject matter of the calls ranged from suicide attempts and allegations of sexual abuse to health issues faced by pregnant inmates, according to Wired's reporting.
"Conditions at the South Texas ICE Processing Center ('Pearsall') are broadly punitive, as they have been throughout its two-decade history under the management of private prison company GEO Group," immigrant rights advocacy group RAICES told the Current in an emailed statement.
"Near-capacity detention rates in recent weeks have only threatened to exacerbate long-held concerns and compound violations of the federal government’s own standards," RAICES continued. "Medical care is inadequate, disorganized and indifferent to urgency. Food is limited, heavily rationed and often expired. And inattentive guards enable systemic obstacles to qualified legal counsel for people in detention, which have only worsened under this administration based upon RAICES’ observations."
