Colorado College Research Finds Significant ICE and CoreCivic Violations of the Performance-Based National Detention Standards at Cibola and Torrance County Detention Facilities
Colorado College students conducted interviews and research into the experiences of detained asylum seekers in two of New Mexico’s immigration detention facilities at Torrance County Detention Facility and Cibola County Correctional Center. Their findings corroborate ongoing reports of abuses at the facilities and identify violations of ICE’s Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS).
The report, entitled “I Didn’t Know If I Would Survive”: Excessive Use of Force and Inadequate Subsequent Care in a New Mexico Immigration Detention Facility, is accessible HERE. This report is the first of a series of forthcoming findings from Colorado College examining violations at Torrance and Cibola. In this report, researcher Diana Buda provides an overview of the history of immigration detention, examines flawed oversight mechanisms, and identifies violations of the PBNDS in the wake of a November 2023 pepper spray attack against migrants at Cibola. Ms. Buda finds potential violations of ICE’s Use of Force policy and identifies clear and obvious violations of disability and medical standards.
“Immigration detention is an atrocious response to migrants and asylum seekers looking for refuge in the United States. ”
Her report concludes that the pepper spray attack at Cibola underscores just how dangerous New Mexico’s ICE detention centers are for migrants, and that there are wholly inadequate oversight mechanisms to ensure that people’s human rights are respected. The only solution to preserve people’s health and safety is to close the facilities and release migrants to their families and communities.
Ms. Buda states, “Immigration detention is an atrocious response to migrants and asylum seekers looking for refuge in the United States. The humanity of migrants held in ICE detention is persistently denied through egregious facility conditions and widespread violations of national detention standards, which are consistently unaddressed. The pepper spray incident at Cibola exemplifies this. While detained, migrants also commonly experience hunger due to inadequate food portions of poor quality, are deprived of medical and mental health care, and endure due-process violations. I hope this report helps others (including decision makers) understand that the immigration detention system currently in place is inhumane and must be dismantled. It is time to demand a just, dignified approach to immigration and end the abuse of migrants perpetuated by immigration detention.”
