Split opinions re plans to build immigration detention facility

Management & Training Corporation is a company that manages private prisons and Job Corps centers throughout the country, including one in Louisiana. The contractor has proposed a plan for a new immigration detention center out west and not everyone is happy about it. Some say construction of a new facility could boost local economy while others have serious concerns about the private prison company because they say its reputation is less than stellar.

Immigrants themselves may be the ones most worried about how a new detention center could impact their lives. Thousands of immigrants across the country have been torn from their families and locked away for weeks or months at a time, sometimes without any apparent cause other than the fact that they emigrated to the United States from other countries. The new detention center would house approximately 600 inmates at a time for a particular U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement office that serves four states in its region.

The mayor of the county where the new facility has been proposed (in Wyoming) says the area has suffered economic decline for so long that this project might be the answer to restoring financial stability in the community. The fact that Management & Training Corporation has been called to the mat several times in the past for discrimination of its employees and also for substandard conditions in some of its facilities has many concerned. The for-profit, private prison company has been accused of housing immigrants in inhumane conditions that included tainted food, filthy bathrooms and allegations of sexual assault against detainees.

Time will tell whether the new immigration detention facility will come to fruition. Any immigrant in Louisiana who believes his or her rights have been violated either in a detention center or elsewhere may seek justice. An immigration attorney would be a logical source of support.

Source: trib.com, “Private prison company pursuing Wyoming immigration detention center has troubled past“, Elise Schmelzer, Jan. 8, 2018