Senators call for an investigation into Plymouth County ICE detention center over allegations of inmate abuse

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An immigrant detainee alleges he was sexually harassed and physically assaulted at the Plymouth County Jail Immigrant Custody Unit – the latest in a string of allegations that led to Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey to request an immediate review of the facility by the Department of Homeland Security.

In a letter this week to Immigration & Customs Enforcement and DHS officials, Warren and Markey said they heard detainees’ concerns about inadequate medical care, limited and supervised interactions with a lawyer, a violation of the rights of detainees. inmates to practice religion and retaliate against inmates who lodged complaints. Lawmakers claim these incidents would violate ICE’s “national detention standards” and seek detailed explanations for a long list of questions about how the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office and ICE are handling the facility .

GBH News obtained a series of letters from inmates in December complaining of racially prejudiced deportation officers, inability to communicate with mental health staff due to language barriers, black mold in showers and proximity to COVID-19 positive prisoners. Following report of sexual harassment and physical assault, lawyers for one detainee also claim he was inappropriately denied access to a visa after reporting the crime due to default school systems.

The ICE said its Detention Watch Office inspects all facilities twice a year to see if they meet detention standards, and a third inspection is conducted each year by a subcontractor called the Nakamoto Group. The most recent inspection in October 2021 ranked Plymouth as “superior,” the highest ranking, although contractor documents shared with GBH News indicate that some of last year’s inspections were conducted remotely , or with some inspectors working from home due to the pandemic, based on photographs and videos of the facility. DHS did not respond to requests for comment.

Markey is not convinced that ICE detainees have “access to a safe, dignified and legal environment,” he said in an emailed statement to GBH News. “ICE officials and contractors need to be transparent about how they treat those in their care, and that is why Senator Warren and I wrote to the agency this week to demand responses as to whether this installation meets DHS rules and regulations. “

The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office denies the allegations. “We are delighted that the Senators are interested in our installation,” said spokesman John Birtwell. “In recent years, we have had a productive relationship. I am convinced that the allegations described in the letter are unfounded. It is a safe, secure and modern facility staffed with humane men and women. He says there are currently 140 ICE inmates at the facility.

Outside contractor Nakamoto Group inspected the Plymouth facility in June 2021.

Plymouth has a contract with ICE to detain immigrant detainees, the only remaining county in Massachusetts to do so after Essex and Franklin counties broke their contracts and ICE terminated another with Bristol over allegations of abuse of detainees.

In letters obtained by GBH News, one detainee said he had not seen his young daughter in person since February 2020 and had not been granted access to video tours. Others said they witnessed or participated in brawls in the prison, but never saw medical staff assess or examine inmates for any injuries. Several inmates said they did not have the time or designated space to practice the Muslim faith. One of them claimed that when he cited this violation of the ICE rules this fall, he was placed in solitary confinement.

In September, a group of 60 advocacy groups, including the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network and Prisoners Legal Services, wrote a letter to ICE and Plymouth Sheriff Joseph McDonald, detailing their concerns about the facilities and handling of inmates.

“People inside continued to speak out, to record messages to share with the public, to talk to their families, even under the threat of further physical assault by correctional officers, harassment, isolation, transfer to other institutions and all, of course, under threat of deportation, ”said Elizabeth Nguyen, a volunteer with the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network.

In December, the ACLU filed a complaint in Superior Court on behalf of Michaell Acosta Granados, a 20-year-old ICE inmate who said he was sexually harassed by another inmate and later physically assaulted by another. detained.

Acosta, who transferred to Plymouth last year, reported the incident of sexual harassment to county authorities under the Prison Rape Elimination Act and has been questioned by a county officer on several occasions during the investigation.

Acosta says he was “brutally attacked without provocation” by another inmate on September 12 who repeatedly shouted that he was a “rat” for reporting the sexual harassment by the other prisoner, according to lawyers and court documents. In the complaint filed in Superior Court, lawyers for Acosta said he suffered “serious bodily injuries” including pain in his spine, jaw, head, neck and health. mental health, and cooperated in the investigation of sexual harassment and physical assault.

His lawyers say the attack and its cooperation should have qualified him for a “U visa,” which is available to immigrants who cooperate in an investigation or prosecution of a crime committed against them. But Plymouth officials rejected his application and had no policy in place to review U visa applications, despite being required to do so by state law.

Lawyers for Acosta say Plymouth’s surrender of Acosta’s visa application is an indication of the facility’s faulty systems.

Julie Dahlstom of the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking program at Boston University is one of Acosta’s attorneys, and she said Plymouth does not have a system in place to help immigrants seeking U visas in because of a crime committed against them.

“First of all, they don’t have a policy according to state law,” Dahlstom said. “Part of the law is to inform victims that there will be a fair and clear procedure for agencies to follow. This is what we believe does not happen in this case. Plymouth had no policy when there was a victim in front of them who was brutally attacked.

The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to inquiries about Acosta’s case. According to court documents, the county has until mid-January to respond to the complaint.

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