Protocols & Practices of Degradation & Dehumanization Continue: New Mexico Civilly Detained Migrant Study, Analysis, Review and Summary of 2023 Findings and Conclusions
Researcher Arabella Eagar published a second report, entitled Protocols & Practices of Degradation & Dehumanization Continue: New Mexico Civilly Detained Migrant Study, Analysis, Review and Summary of 2023 Findings and Conclusions. The report is available HERE.
This report is a follow-up to Ms. Eagar’s first report, entitled Protocols & Practices of Degradation & Dehumanization: ICE Civilly Detained Migrant Study, Analysis of Detention Conditions & Migrant Experiences, released in July 2023.
The report documents ongoing horrific conditions and human rights abuses in all three of New Mexico’s ICE detention facilities at Cibola County Correctional Center, Otero County Processing Center, and Torrance County Detention Facility. In addition to poor physical conditions and significant mistreatment by prison and ICE officials at each facility, the report documents the detrimental mental health consequences of due process violations in the asylum screening process.
The report concludes by finding that New Mexico continues to be complicit in subjecting highly vulnerable migrants to prolonged exposure to hostile and existentially threatening environments that forcibly require individuals to relinquish their autonomy. This is an extremely traumatic experience the effects of which cannot be overstated and at minimum can be described as complexly harmful, deeply debilitating, and long lasting. Further, this process appears to be disabling by design, permanently traumatizing people seeking safety and security while causing them and their families great suffering.
“Migrants detained in New Mexico suffer daily abuse, harassment, racism, neglect, and dangerous living environments, all while being denied their basic rights and held indefinitely without cause. ”
Over the course of 2023 data was collected from the 3 facilities in New Mexico holding migrants legally seeking asylum. The results of this investigation reveal glaring evidence that suggests immigration detention is not a functional system for processing migrants, nor does it serve as a deterrent for those who come seeking asylum at the southern border. Rather, what is evidenced by these data and findings is that immigration detention appears to only be successful in profoundly traumatizing and dehumanizing thousands of extremely vulnerable people while pouring money into the pockets of private prison companies and contractors under the name of border security. In the educated view of Ms. Eagar, the practice of civil immigration detention appears to be a form of legalized human trafficking, prolonging human suffering and using citizen tax dollars to do so.
Ms. Eagar states, “Migrants detained in New Mexico suffer daily abuse, harassment, racism, neglect, and dangerous living environments, all while being denied their basic rights and held indefinitely without cause. Private prison contractors are incentivized to prolong the detainment of these vulnerable individuals while obstructing their ability to successfully navigate the asylum process. The inherent cruelty and violence of this practice comes at a high cost, both to taxpayers and to those forced to endure detainment. New Mexico must end its relationship with the practice of immigration detention and begin investing in policies that align with our values and the human rights of those who come seeking asylum and refuge.”
