ICE to discontinue use of Alabama immigrant detention center, limit use of 3 others

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Migrants released as border crisis worsens

Lt. Christopher Olivarez from the Texas Department of Public Safety told ‘America's Newsroom’ the release of a group of migrants was due to overcrowding in facilities.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Friday that it will close one immigrant detention facility, and will restrict the use of three others -- citing concerns with conditions at those centers.

ICE said it will no longer use the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden, Alabama, and will limit the use of three others in Florida, Louisiana and North Carolina. It comes as part of an overall review of detention facilities ordered by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in May. Mayorkas has said that reforming detention is one of his top priorities.

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The use of Etowah County’s detention center is said by ICE to have a "long history of serious deficiencies identified during facility inspections" and is of limited significance to the agency.

The agency said it was restricting use of the Florida center – Glades County -- due to concerns about provisions of detainee medical care and will likely not utilize the beds it has already paid for. Future transfers of illegal immigrants will depend on its addressing conditions that do not meet ICE standards, it said in a statement.

Oct. 26, 2021: US Acting Director of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tae Johnson, speaks about Operation Dark HunTor, a joint criminal opioid and darknet enforcement operation, during a press conference at the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC.  (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

The Alamance County Detention Center in North Carolina will only be used for short-term custody due to concerns about conditions there, including a lack of outdoor recreation for detainees. It was being used for long-term detention until the announcement.

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Meanwhile, ICE is reducing use of Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana in order to match "Winn’s historical and recent staffing constraints" while also closely monitoring conditions at the facility. Staff are being relocated and illegal immigrants present at those facilities are being transferred, the agency said. 

"ICE will continue to review other immigration detention centers and monitor the quality of treatment of detained individuals, the conditions of detention, and other factors relevant to the continued operation of each facility," the agency said. "The Department will continue to monitor its operational needs for detention and adjust as needed." 

ICE RELEASES FY 2021 REPORT SHOWING DROP IN ARRESTS, DEPORTATIONS AS BIDEN-ERA RULES WENT INTO EFFECT

ICE has been overhauling the way it conducts enforcement operations since the Biden administration took over. It has radically overhauled the restrictions placed on ICE agents for arrests and deportations -- with new enforcement priorities that focus on recent border crossers, aggravated felons and national security threats.

Those new priorities have coincided with a drastic drop in deportations and arrests, according to ICE’s latest annual report. Recently a federal judge imposed a preliminary injunction on the use of guidance in certain applications in response to a legal challenge from Republican states.

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The facilities closures come shortly after ICE pushed back against a DHS Office of Inspector General report that alleged poor conditions at a facility in New Mexico. ICE questioned the integrity of the report and accused the OIG of staging photographs included within it -- claims that the watchdog denied.