Migrant detention facilities to be reestablished in formerly shuttered penitentiaries due to persisting issues.
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Hey there! Let's chat about how cities have been wielding zoning rules, permits, and fire codes like a secret weapon to steer clear of re-opening problematic prisons for housing individuals awaiting deportation. Zane Irwin, from the Kansas News Service, takes us to Leavenworth, Kansas, to check out the action.
(Sound of footsteps)
ZANE IRWIN: William Rogers guides us past a closed private prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he used to work five years ago as a corrections officer. He points out a concrete building on the other side of a towering barbed-wire fence, recalling a disturbing encounter involving an inmate armed with a metal lunch tray.
WILLIAM ROGERS: When he hit me in the back of the head, it genuinely hurt, but I wasn't aware it was split open at that moment. You just react, right?
IRWIN: Rogers needed 14 staples in his head and promptly returned to work. CoreCivic, one of the largest private prison operators in the U.S., shuttered this facility in 2021. The Justice Department Office of the Inspector General reported dangerous understaffing levels in a 2017 report. A former employee, Marcia Levering, shed light on the consequences of understaffing at a local public hearing.
(Sound of archived recording)
MARCIA LEVERING: We witnessed murders, assaults, poor living conditions, and some units had half of their cell doors compromised.
IRWIN: In a statement, CoreCivic disputes these severe allegations, stating they reflect isolated incidents from a limited time span.
(Sound of construction vehicle reversing)
IRWIN: Now, construction is underway at the old prison to house a thousand immigrant detainees from across the nation. The move comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targets a 100,000-bed expansion of national detention capacity, primarily through contracts with private prison companies.
Leavenworth isn't the only prison with a checkered past that's reopened as an immigrant detention center. Examples include the Etowah County Detention Center in Alabama, the Delaney Hall facility in New Jersey, and FCI Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area. Immigrant rights advocates, like Eunice Cho from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), are concerned about the potential risks for those inside as ICE hastens to open more detention centers.
EUNICE CHO: We've seen people in overcrowded detention facilities, chained for days without medication support, without food sometimes, without water.
IRWIN: The city of Leavenworth has filed a lawsuit against CoreCivic over its plans to reopen the facility in Kansas. They argue that the company is bypassing local zoning laws by not seeking necessary city permission – a strategy some other local governments, like Newark, New Jersey, are also employing to thwart detention centers.
David S. Rubenstein, a professor at Washburn University in Topeka, explains that cities' authority to enforce zoning laws might offer their most potent weapon against ICE detention initiatives.
DAVID S RUBENSTEIN: The zoning objections are not specifically directed at immigration detention. They're simply being utilized to slow things down a bit.
IRWIN: As Congress works on the Trump administration's budget proposal, featuring a 65% increase for the Department of Homeland Security, there's considerable debate. Even if DHS secures this funding, it may still face obstacles in winning local approval for new migrant detention facilities.
For NPR News, I'm Zane Irwin in Leavenworth.
(Sound of Six Organs of Admittance's "Reservoir")Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.With Insights:Cities have leveraged zoning rules and permits to resist the establishment of migrant detention centers by employing various strategies, such as:
- Challenging Zoning Violations: Cities can, and are, filing lawsuits against private prison companies that attempt to reopen facilities without obtaining necessary city approvals, as seen in Leavenworth and Newark.
- Implementing Temporary Holds: Local governments can use the zoning process to impose temporary restrictions on proposed detention center development, giving them time to assess the facilities' potential impacts and gather public input.
- Leveraging Community Support: Cities can leverage strong community opposition to detention centers in zoning hearings, making it more challenging for developers to secure the necessary approvals.
- Promoting Alternative Solutions: Municipalities can push for the development of community-based programs that offer assistance to migrants, rather than supporting detention centers.
- Fostering Dialogue with Federal Authorities: Cities can engage in conversations with federal officials to discuss concerns about detention center development and explore potential alternatives.
The city of Leavenworth, like Newark, is employing zoning laws to challenge private prison companies' attempts to reopen facilities without obtaining necessary city permissions. This strategy could potentially slow down the establishment of more migrant detention centers.
Cities, such as Leavenworth and others, are utilizing community opposition to detention centers in zoning hearings, making it more challenging for developers to secure the necessary approvals for such facilities.
