'GRAND OPENING' OF HOMELAND SECURITY PRISON IN TACOMA PLANNED FOR EARLY APRIL
By Mark Jensen

** Seattle facility to be 'consolidated' with 500-bed Northwest Detention Center **
February 24, 2004

The "grand opening" of the new 500-bed Homeland Security prison in Tacoma, Washington, will take place in the first or second week of April, Mr. Neal Clark of the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday in a telephone conversation. Mr. Clark is the official who is slated to become Homeland Security's new Field Office Director in the Northwest.

The April ceremony will be attended by a number of other Homeland Security officials, said Mr. Clark.

The contract detention center operated in Seattle under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security will soon be "consolidated" with the new 500-bed Homeland Security prison in Tacoma, according to Mr. Clark.

Speaking from Washington, D.C., Mr. Clark confirmed local reports that the Northwest Detention Center will be completed soon on the Tacoma Tideflats.

Construction of the prison proceeds apace at the 1623 E. "J" St. site, just half a mile from Johnny's Dock, a popular restaurant on the Thea Foss Waterway. Backhoes and earthmoving equipment were being offloaded Tuesday morning as what appeared to be final landscaping and cleanup of the site began.

With almost no coverage by the media, few local residents have even heard of the facility, or have any idea that a major Federal detention center is about to open in Pierce County -- if "open" is the proper term for a prison whose main function is thought to be to hold individuals slated for deportation.

A call to Homeland Security's Seattle Field Office Director, Mr. Phil Crawford, on Tuesday morning, went unanswered. But a phone call to the director of the Office of Detention and Removal in Washington D.C. was answered promptly with a cheery "Hello, Detention and Removal!"

When Tacoma was mentioned, the helpful employee transferred the call to another Homeland Security official. As chance would have it, there on the other end of the line was Neal Clark. Mr. Clark revealed that it is he who has been chosen to be the new Field Office Director in the Northwest, pending a standard security check now underway.

According to the Homeland Security official, the Seattle detention center, one of seven "contract detention facilities" operated by the department, would in coming weeks be "consolidated" with the operation at the Tacoma prison. He confirmed that the facility at 1623 E. "J" St. will be completed soon.

Mr. Clark's office will not be located in Tacoma, however. The new Field Office Director will work out of Tukwila, where the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration is now putting the finishing touches on a building that will house the regional headquarters.

The Daily Journal of Commerce reported last year that the four-story, 140,000-square-foot Federal facility in Tukwila, located at 12500 International Boulevard near Sea-Tac Airport, will open in the summer of 2004.

Mr. Clark said that he began to work at INS in 1984, and government documents on the web state that in 1996 he was working as a Border Patrol agent on the Canadian border. Mr. Clark also confirmed that the prison would be operated by the Correctional Services Corporation (CSC) -- which he at first referred to as "Esmor." According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, CSC changed its name from Esmor Corrections Corp. in 1995, when the company moved from Melville, N.Y., to Sarasota, Florida.

CSC, a publicly traded corporation which operates detention facilities in eighteen states and Puerto Rico, has had more than its share of problems in recent years. Last year the New York Times reported that the company was fined a record $300,000 in 2003 by the New York State Lobbying Commission after reports accused it of buying votes in the state legislature, and a report by members of the American Friends Service Committee was released detailing CSC's history of "mismanagement, financial impropriety, and outright abuse of its charges."

Asked whether employees at the Northwest Detention Center would be working for the Department of Homeland Security or for CSC, Mr. Clark said it would be "a combination of both."

What was formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is now a part of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "Ice," as Homeland Security officials call it, became operational on March 1, 2003. "Ice" is part of a still larger entity known as Border and Transportation Security, which is one of the constituent parts of the mammoth bureaucracy recently created under the name of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The new Homeland Security prison is already a very visible presence in Tacoma. Its four immense windowless prison blocks rise within sight of I-5, and are surrounded by security fences whose gates open onto a freshly upgraded railroad siding. The facility has yet to be mentioned on the official website of the Dept. of Homeland Security, however, and visitors to the site of the prison have been unable to find any signage identifying it.

When it does open, the new prison will be one of what Homeland Security's official website calls "contract detention facilities." These "augment" eight "secure detention facilities" known as Service Processing Centers, which Homeland Security operates directly. The other contract detention facilities are located in Aurora, Colorado, near Denver; Houston, Texas; Laredo, Texas; Elizabeth, New Jersey; Queens, New York; and San Diego, California.

Mr. Clark said he did not know whether there has been any Homeland Security press release about the Northwest Detention Center.

The current Seattle Field Office Director, Phil Crawford, is presently traveling outside the Northwest. Mr. Clark said Mr. Crawford visited the Washington, D.C., office yesterday. Mr. George Morones, the Assistant District Director on duty in Seattle, did not answer his phone on Tuesday morning.

* * *

[Below is material extracted from three of the web pages maintained by the Department of Homeland Security. Nowhere is the Northwest Detention Center now under construction in Tacoma mentioned.]

1.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Border and Transportation Security
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

[Accessed February 22, 2004]

http://www.ice.gov/graphics/enforce/comm/index.htm

STATE AND LOCAL

ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] teams with a multitude of state, local and Federal law enforcement in a variety of ways including the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC), the Systematic Homeland Approach to Reducing Exploitation (SHARE) program, the Cooperative Agreement Program (CAP), the Detention Management Control Plan (DMCP), and the Fugitive Operations Program.

The Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) serves as a national enforcement operations center by providing timely immigration status and identity information to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies on aliens suspected, arrested or convicted of criminal activity. The LESC operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week assisting law enforcement agencies with information gathered from 8 service databases, the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the Interstate Identification Index (III) and other state criminal history indices.

In addition to providing real time assistance to law enforcement agencies that are investigating, or have arrested, foreign-born individuals involved in criminal activity, the LESC also performs the following investigative functions:

National Crime Information Center (NCIC) -- The LESC administers and controls immigration related cases in this nationwide law enforcement consortium and criminal database for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Investigative Services Branch -- The LESC provides support to a host of on-going multi-agency investigative initiatives. Working in concert with ICE field units, task forces and other local, state and Federal investigators the Center gathers, analyzes and responds to thousands of off-line query requests.

Special Response Unit (SRU) -- The LESC is the central point of contact for the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) program. Every foreign-born firearm applicant is screened by the LESC for immigration status before being authorized to purchase or possess a weapon. The SRU also handles queries and field responses relating to national security employment issues (Bio-Terrorism, CDL with Haz-Mat endorsement, Nuclear Industry, etc.)

The LESC Communications Center serves the law enforcement community with NCIC hit confirmation information as well as ICE Special Agents and Deportation Officers nationwide with after-hours telephonic enforcement support via our digitally recorded duty lines confirmed by Personal Identification Numbers.

To contact the Department of Homeland Security tip-line, call 1-866-DHS-2ICE.

PARTERNERING WITH THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE FINANCIAL COMMUNITY

The Department of Homeland Security launched the Systematic Homeland Approach to Reducing Exploitation (SHARE) program to provide private sector executives with progress updates on its financial investigations and information on new trends and vulnerabilities discovered during these investigations. The SHARE program is a joint ICE/Secret Service initiative that provides data on specific investigative outcomes to executive members of the financial and trade communities impacted by money laundering, identity theft, and other financial crimes.

DHS is also conducting joint studies, outreach and training programs for members of the financial and trade communities:

--As part of the Cornerstone Program, ICE has created a unit solely dedicated to providing training to the private sector on how to identify and prevent exploitation by criminal organizations.

-- The Secret Service and the Computer Emergency Response Team Coordinating Center (CERT/CC) of Carnegie Mellon University have embarked on an analysis of network, system and database compromises committed by malicious insiders. The results of the "Insider Threat Study" will help the partnering agencies develop accurate information about insider intrusions that can help efforts to identify and prevent future intrusions before they occur.

DETENTION AND REMOVAL INITIATIVES WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT

The Cooperative Agreement Program (CAP) helps state and local governments fund construction, renovation, upgrades, and expansion of detention facilities to meet nationally accepted conditions of confinement. In return, the state or local government guarantees bed space to ICE for a predetermined period of time.

The Detention Management Control Plan (DMCP) monitors compliance of 36 national policy and procedure standards related to detention operations and treatment of ICE detainees held in any facility for longer than 72 hours.

Fugitive Operations Program works to eliminate this backlog of fugitives and to ensure that the number of aliens deported equals the number of final orders issued by the immigration courts in any given fiscal year. ICE has developed several tools and initiatives to help locate fugitive aliens, including:

-- Training to help officers locate fugitives using computer-based searches, other high technology surveillance equipment, and good old-fashioned investigative techniques.

-- The National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) database helps identify and apprehend fugitive aliens, alert officers in the field of the alien's fugitive status, and provides a heads-up to the officer that the subject of their inquiry may not be a simple traffic stop.

-- The Most Wanted List of Fugitive Aliens helps identify and locate fugitive aliens.

INVESTIGATIONS INITIATIVES WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT

The Forensic Document Laboratory provides forensic support to Federal, state, and local law enforcement in matters relating to Documents, Fingerprints, and other evidence.

The Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) provides timely immigration status and identity information to local, state and Federal law enforcement agencies on aliens who are suspected, arrested, or convicted of criminal activity, operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and assists law enforcement agencies with information gathered from Eight Service databases, National Crime Information Center (NCIC), Interstate Identification Index (III), Other state criminal history indices.

2.

IMMIGRATION

DETENTION AND REMOVAL

Detention (Custody)

[Accessed February 22, 2004]

http://www.ice.gov/graphics/enforce/imm/imm_dro.htm

The aliens (non-citizens) who are apprehended and not released from custody are placed in detention facilities. Those that cannot be legally released from secure custody constitute DROís ìnondetainedî docket. Every case, whether ìdetainedî or ìnondetained,î remains part of DROís caseload, actively managed until and unless it is formally closed. DRO processes and monitors detained and nondetained cases as they move through immigration court proceedings to conclusion. At that point, DRO executes the judgeís order.

Primary healthcare for alien detainees is planned and managed by the Division of Immigration Health ServicesDivision of Immigration Health Services (DIHS). The DIHS is located within the Bureau of Primary Health Care of the Public Health Service of the Department of Health and Human Services.

DRO has defined policy and procedures regarding the proper handling of unaccompanied alien juveniles taken into Federal custody as a result of their unlawful immigration status. DHS' juvenile guidelines address the responsibilities related to unaccompanied alien juveniles who enter the United States illegally, violate their legal status, or commit a deportable crime. As a part of the restructuring of INS, the responsibilities related to the care and custody of unaccompanied alien juveniles has been transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement, Division of Unaccompanied Children Services. Read more

IMMIGRATION DETENTION FACILITIES

DRO secures bed space in detention facilities, and monitors these facilities for compliance with national Detention Standards. The standards specify the living conditions appropriate for detainees. These standards have been collated and published in the Detention Operations Manual (Detention Standards). This Manual provides uniform policies and procedures concerning the treatment of individuals detained by ICE.

ICE operates eight secure detention facilities called Service Processing Centers (SPCs). They are located in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; Batavia, New York; El Centro, California; El Paso, Texas; Florence, Arizona; Miami, Florida; Los Fresnos, Texas; and San Pedro, California. The newest SPC, the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility, is unique because, in addition to its 300 beds for detained aliens, it has 150 beds for use by the U.S. Marshals Service.

ICE augments its SPCís with seven contract detention facilities. These facilities are located in Aurora (Denver), Colorado; Houston, Texas; Laredo, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Elizabeth, New Jersey; Queens, New York; and San Diego, California. ICE also uses state and local jails on a reimbursable detention day basis and has joint Federal facilities with the Bureau of Prisons, the Federal Detention Center in Oakdale, Louisiana, and the criminal alien contract facility in Eloy, Arizona. In addition, major expansion initiatives are underway at several SPCs'.

3.

CONTACT

OFFICE OF DETENTION AND REMOVAL

IMMIGRATION DETENTION FACILITIES

[Accessed February 22, 2004]

http://www.ice.gov/graphics/about/contact/con_dro.htm

Strengthening the nationís capacity to detain and remove criminal and other deportable aliens is a key component of the comprehensive strategy to deter illegal immigration and protect public safety. Apprehension, detention and removal of illegal aliens is a priority of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This commitment has been backed by significant resources devoted to detention and removal efforts.

With the passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996, Congress expanded the number of crimes that made people subject to removal. It also eliminated discretion to release certain aliens by requiring that virtually any non-citizen subject to removal on the basis of a criminal conviction, as well as certain categories of non-criminal aliens, be detained without bond. As a result of IIRIRA, there is a requirement to detain a much larger number of people. The provisions in IIRIRA requiring long-term detention, along with the rise in sophisticated smuggling operations, and the increase in the number of criminal aliens have resulted in the need for significantly more detention space.

ICE operates eight Service Processing Centers (SPCs) in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; Batavia, New York; El Centro, California; El Paso, Texas; Florence, Arizona; Miami, Florida; Los Fresnos, Texas; and San Pedro, California. The newest SPC, the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility, is unique because, in addition to its 300 beds for detained aliens, it has 150 beds for use by the U.S. Marshals Service.

ICE augments its SPCs with seven contract detention facilities. These facilities are located in Aurora (Denver), Colorado; Houston, Texas; Laredo, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Elizabeth, New Jersey; Queens, New York; and San Diego California. ICE also uses state and local jails on a reimbursable detention day basis and has joint Federal facilities with the Bureau of Prisons, the Federal Detention Center in Oakdale, Louisiana, and the criminal alien contract facility in Eloy, Arizona. In addition, major expansion initiatives are underway at several SPCs.

To do this, over $600 million is spent on detention each year. The average stay in an immigration detention facility is approximately 29.5 days, although stays of only one day, and those of several years, also occur.

OFFICE OF DETENTION AND REMOVAL FIELD OFFICES

Headquarters
Director, Office of Detention and Removal
801 I St, NW
Suite 900
Washington, DC 20536
Phone: 202-305-2734

Field Office Director, Seattle
1000 2nd Ave., Suite 2650
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone: 206-553-4146
Area of Responsibility: Washington, Oregon, and Alaska