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ACLU (2012) Prisoners of Profit: Immigrants and Detention in Georgia

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ACLU (2012) Prisoners of Profit: Immigrants and Detention in Georgia 1 2 This report is dedicated to the memory of Roberto Medina Martinez (1969-2009) and all immigrants who have perished in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 3 4 "After twenty months away from home, you lose faith, you feel worthless, this place breaks you, it is made to break your soul. The constant screaming and verbal abuse the guards inflict on the detainees is just made to break your soul and handicap you." -Pedro Guzman, formerly detained at Stewart Detention Center “While international law recognizes every State’s right to set immigration criteria and procedures, it does not allow unfettered discretion to set policies for detention or deportation of non-citizens without regard to human rights standards.” -Jorge Bustamante, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants "I feel like I'm going crazy....When I get upset, they just give me more medicine. I can't tell them I'm really upset or they just put me in a helmet and handcuffs for a few days. That's torture! I don't see anybody. I don't really care about anything. I just want to get out and get into a program that will help me." -Ermis Calderone, formerly detained at Stewart Detention Center “I propose a worldwide ban on prolonged solitary confinement....Equally, individuals with mental disabilities should be provided with proper medical or psychiatric care and under no circumstances should they ever be subjected to solitary confinement.” - Juan Méndez, Special Rapporteur on Torture Published May 2012 5 Report Editor and Human Rights Documentation Project Supervisor Azadeh Shahshahani, National Security/ Immigrants’ Rights Project Director, ACLU Foundation of Georgia Lead Author and Researcher Alexandra (Sachi) Cole, National Security/ Immigrants’ Rights Legal Fellow, ACLU Foundation of Georgia Acknowledgements The ACLU Foundation of Georgia would like to give thanks to the many community advocates, attorneys, law firms, and law student interns who provided invaluable information and research assistance for this project, including Mary Elizabeth Head, Juliana Lorenzo, Colleen Coveney, Curtis Isacke, Laura Rivera, Damien Vrignon, Elisa Wong, Silas Allard, Tariq Khan, Jay Burhan Haider, Ruth Dawson, Joseph Lavetsky, Elizabeth Main, William Hudson, Joshua Clark, Brenda Lopez, Lucero Bello, Kathryn Madison, Allison Willingham, Priscilla Padron, Surinder Chadha Jimenez, Merlinus Monroe, Chaka Washington, Julie Kang, Kathy Purnell, Laura Vogel of DLA Piper; Christy L. MacPherson of Carlton Fields; Tashwanda Pinchbak of Troutman Sanders; Katy Smallwood and Suzanne Bertolett of Sutherland; G. Patrick Montgomery, Lynette McNeil, Allison Dyer, Bethany Rezek, and Zach McEntyre of King & Spalding LLP; Michael Conway and Marilee Miller of Foley & Lardner LLP; as well as the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR), Alterna, and Coalicion de Lideres Latinos-CLILA. We would also like to thank the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, the ACLU Human Rights Program, and the ACLU National Prison Project for their support for this project. The ACLU Foundation of Georgia would also like to thank Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), Detention Management, LLC, and the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections for allowing the ACLU of Georgia access to the four immigration detention centers in Georgia. We would like to give special thanks to the men and women detained at Georgia immigration detention centers and their families who spoke to us. 6 Photography Credits Front cover photographs: Mario Guevara, Mundo Hispanico; and Periódico La Visión. Photo on page 3: Pax Christi South. Photo on page 28: Indy Media. Photo on page 31: Cuentame. Photo on page 34: The News Tribune. Photo on pages 50: Associated Press. Photos on pages 52 and 53: Periódico La Visión. Photo on page 70: Tom Reed, Gainesville Times. Back cover photo: Miguel Martinez, Mundo Hispanico. The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia’s mission is to advance the cause of civil liberties in Georgia, with emphasis on the rights of free speech, free press, free assembly, freedom of religion, due process of law and to take all legitimate action in the furtherance of such purposes without political partisanship. The ACLU of Georgia National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project is dedicated to protecting international human rights and constitutional guarantees for immigrants and refugees, including detainees held in Georgia detention centers. To that end, the ACLU of Georgia is presenting this report to bring to light the human rights abuses and due process concerns posed by immigration detention throughout the state of Georgia. 7 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. PREFACE............................................................................................................................. 10 II. METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................. 11 III. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................... 12 IV. BACKGROUND: Immigration Detention in the U.S. and Georgia............................. 20 A. Immigration Detention in the U.S.: An Overview..................................................... 20 1. Federal Acts............................................................................................................. 20 2. Formation of ICE..................................................................................................... 21 3. Pathways to Detention ............................................................................................ 21 B. Overview of Immigration Detention in Georgia........................................................ 28 1. Georgia’s Immigration Detention Facilities.......................................................... 28 2. Pathways to Detention in Georgia......................................................................... 29 3. The Prison Corporations: CCA and Detention Management, LLC................... 31 V. LEGAL STANDARDS OF DETENTION........................................................................ 32 A. ICE Standards .............................................................................................................. 32 B. Constitutional Standards............................................................................................. 33 C. Regional and International Human Rights Standards ............................................. 34 VI. FINDINGS......................................................................................................................... 36 A. Removal Due Process Concerns.................................................................................. 36 1. Immigration Court.................................................................................................. 36 2. ICE Officers............................................................................................................. 44 B. Facility Findings........................................................................................................... 47 1. Stewart Detention Center....................................................................................... 47 2. North Georgia Detention Center............................................................................ 70 3. Irwin County Detention Center ............................................................................. 81 4. Atlanta City Detention Center................................................................................ 95 VII. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMENDATIONS.......................................................... 110 A. Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 110 B. Recommendations....................................................................................................... 110 1. Overall Recommendations................................................................................... 110 2. Facility-Specific Recommendations..................................................................... 112 9 I. PREFACE The United States is home to the largest number of non-citizen1 detainees in the world.2 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detains over 30,000 individuals across the country every day in more than 250 facilities, including privately run facilities, facilities run by ICE, and prisons and jails run by local governments.3 Almost half of all immigrant detainees are housed in private for-profit facilities.4 The purpose of this project was to document and evaluate conditions of detention for immigrant detainees in Georgia per ICE standards, constitutional standards as articulated by the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court decisions, as well as international human rights standards.5 Georgia houses four immigration detention centers, including the country’s largest, the Stewart Detention Center.6 Of particular concern are conditions at the detention centers run by corporations, including the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Detention Management, LLC, which operate three of the four facilities featured in this report.7 10 II. METHODOLOGY This report focuses on conditions of detention for immigrants in the state of Georgia. The report is based on more than three years of research conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLU) of Georgia. The ACLU of Georgia interviewed 68 detainees who were detained in Georgia immigration detention
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