Day of Action in Estancia, NM: Community Calls on Non-Renewal of Torrance County Detention Facility ICE Contract
CONTACTS:
Itzayana Banda | (720) 532-3293| itzayana@nmdreamteam.org
Felipe Vásquez | (505) 639-8636 | fvasquez@nmilc.org
Victor Romero-Hernandez | (505) 209-5812 | victor@innovationlawlab.org
April 10, 2024, Estancia, NM - In a powerful demonstration of solidarity and advocacy, the Dignity Not Detention – NM Coalition and community members are joining together today to call for nonrenewal of the ICE contract at the Torrance County Detention Facility (TCDF), set to expire on May 14, 2024.
Participants will convene at the Torrance County Commission meeting to read aloud the testimonies of asylum seekers detained at TCDF and ensure their voices and direct experiences are included in the public record. Community members will then engage in a car rally to TCDF to show solidarity and support for those detained inside. The day will end with a Freedom Picnic at Arthur Park.
“Torrance County Detention Facility has been open for far too long,” says Zoe Bowman, Supervising Attorney at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center. “For years, we have been sounding the alarm about the injustices against immigrants in this facility by staff and poor management. That's why, once again, we are coming together to call for the nonrenewal of Torrance's hate contract with ICE. New Mexico and immigrant communities deserve better than incarceration and deportation."
As of March 6, 2024, 1,532 people are detained in ICE custody in New Mexico, including 350 at TCDF. Conditions within TCDF are dire, with staffing shortages exacerbating already hazardous environments, and systemic due process violations preventing people from having a fair shot at winning asylum.
“We've encountered numerous reports detailing the inhumane conditions within the facility,” said Andres Esquivel, Campaigns Manager of the New Mexico Dream Team. “Recently, I had a conversation with Mr. Gonzales, a former detainee awaiting the resolution of his asylum case. He shared firsthand accounts of the lack of respect and dignity afforded to detainees. A particularly harrowing story involved a detainee who had been waiting for over eight years for his case to be addressed. One of the stories that stayed with me was when Mr. Gonzales saw how a man with a tumor in his stomach got beaten up because he was lying on the floor suffering from his pain. We can't continue to let this happen, my community deserves dignity, my community deserves to live without fear! Our goal is to amplify the voices of those detained, affirming our solidarity with them.”
In a recent report conducted by Colorado College, researchers exposed ICE and CoreCivic's violations of national detention standards at TCDF, including excessive use of force, noncompliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), medical neglect, unsanitary conditions, interference with access to counsel, and more.
Sophia Genovese, Managing Attorney for the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center says, “We call on the Biden Administration and Torrance County to elect not to renew the ICE contract at the Torrance County Detention Facility. The facility is chronically understaffed due to poor staff retention, causing myriad safety concerns for staff and people detained there. The facility has repeatedly been found to violate national detention standards. Asylum seekers detained at Torrance are routinely and systematically deprived of basic due process. Simply put, this facility cannot ensure the safety, wellbeing, and dignity of asylum seekers and should no longer be allowed to operate. We call on the government to invest in communities instead of human suffering by not renewing the TCDF contract.”
Andres Esquivel, Campaigns Manager of the New Mexico Dream Team said, "Our goal is to amplify the voices of those detained, affirming our solidarity with them. We've encountered numerous reports detailing the inhumane conditions within the facility. Recently, I had a conversation with Mr. Gonzales, a former detainee awaiting the resolution of his asylum case. He shared firsthand accounts of the lack of respect and dignity afforded to detainees. A particularly harrowing story involved a detainee who had been waiting for over eight years for his case to be addressed. One of the stories that stayed with me was when Mr. Gonzales saw how a man with a tumor in stomach got beaten up because he was lying on the floor suffering from his pain. We can't continue to let this happen, my community deserves dignity, my community deserves to live without fear!”
Ian Philabaum, Director of Legal Organizing at Innovation Law Lab says, “The three parties responsible for management and operations at the Torrance County Detention Facility — ICE, CoreCivic, and Torrance County — have long been negligent in their ability to fulfill their contractual obligations, to meet basic standards for legal and human rights, and have eschewed accountability by pointing fingers at each other. This has resulted in impunity for the myriad violations that cause the facility to make headlines for the harm that it causes people in their custody — medical abuse, wrongful deportations, and even death. It is time for the responsible parties to end the contract at TCDF.”
Zoe Bowman, Supervising Attorney at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center says, “Torrance County Detention Facility has been open for far too long. For years, we have been sounding the alarm about the injustices against immigrants in this facility by staff and poor management. That's why, once again, we are coming together to call for the nonrenewal of Torrance's hate contract with ICE. New Mexico and immigrant communities deserve better than incarceration and deportation."
The New Mexico Dream Team is a statewide network committed to creating power for multigenerational, undocumented, and mixed-status families through trainings and leadership development. We work to engage our community and allies in becoming leaders using an intersectional, gender, and racial justice lens—to develop and implement an organizing and advocacy infrastructure for policy change fighting to dismantle systemic oppression.
The New Mexico Immigrant Law Center is a non-profit organization seeking to advance justice and equity by empowering low-income immigrant communities through collaborative legal services, advocacy, and education.
Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit providing high-quality legal services to low income immigrants. Since its founding in 1987, Las Americas has served close to 80,000 persons, with a strong focus on women, children, families, the LGBTQ community and asylum seekers.
Innovation Law Lab is a non-profit who leverages law, technology and organizing to end isolation and exploitation of immigrants and refugees, build permanent pathways to immigrant inclusion, and advance justice.
