This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) renewed its contract with private prison company Corrections Corporations of America (CCA) to continue detaining women and children at its detention center in Dilley, Texas. DHS’s decision to continue working with private prison companies stands in stark contrast to the Department of Justice’s recent decision to end its partnership with the same companies for criminal detention, finding that private prison companies do not “maintain the same level of safety and security” as those run by the Department itself. What’s worse is that CCA’s new contract, which will run through 2021, at a reduced cost to DHS— is for the same number of beds, meaning that staff will likely be reduced. This lower price tag will likely result in significant reductions in staff and thus services provided for the mothers and children detained by DHS.
The Dilley detention center, formally known as the South Texas Family Residential Center, has been the subject of numerous civil rights complaints. The mothers detained at Dilley complain of inadequate food and medical care, and numerous experts have expressed concern about the psychological impact immigration detention can have on these women and their children who are fleeing violence in their home countries.
DHS’s decision to renew the Dilley contract and, thus, to continue turning a blind eye while private prison companies violate the basic human rights of these mothers and children is deplorable. CAIR Coalition stands with all of stakeholders and advocates who urge DHS to follow in the footsteps of the Department of Justice and end its involvement with private prison companies like CCA. All individuals, regardless of their citizenship, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect—something CCA has proven incapable of doing.
- Leigh Ainsworth, "Legal Intern with CAIR Coalition and Student at Georgetown Law
