CHAPARRAL, NM -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement found multiple violations of management, safety, food and religious service standards at a controversial private detention facility, according to a newly-released letter.

Despite the violations, ICE is negotiating with the facility’s operator, Utah-based Management & Training Corporation (MTC), for what some advocates fear could be a lucrative long-term contract. During the pandemic, MTC secured a temporary agreement that guaranteed it at least $1.9 million a month.

The June 23 Letter of Concern, obtained by the ACLU of New Mexico through a public records request, lists 16 findings covering seven overall violations of contractual requirements and Performance-Based National Detention Standards at the Otero County Processing Center (OCPC), near Chaparral. 

The violations include an inadequate staffing plan, inadequate food service staffing, abuse of the “Voluntary Work Program,” lack of a safety plan, suspension of religious services and more. 

ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said in an emailed statement that the agency works with leadership in detention facilities to make sure they follow detention standards, saying that ICE "remains committed to improving civil detention operations to promote a safe and secure environment for detainees and staff."

Margaret Brown Vega, with the immigrant rights group Advocate Visitors with Immigrants in Detention (AVID), said the findings in the letter match many of the complaints AVID has received from individuals detained at OCPC.

Many of the overall violations have to do with lack of staff, she said, which is particularly noteworthy considering much of the daily work at the facility is done by detained individuals paid just $1 per day.

“They rely on the cheap labor of the individuals they’re detaining to run the facility and even then it’s inadequate,” Brown Vega said. The letter also identified shortages of key personnel and detention staff. 

The letter found intake and medical staff were using Pocketalk, small hand-held translation and interpretation tools, despite having “repeatedly been told to stop using these devices.” Inaccurate interpretation for people seeking medical care can result in inaccurate diagnoses, improper treatment, confusion about medication and more. Medical access was the number one concern among detainees interviewed for a recent AVID study of OCPC. 

“People say there’s no doctor, really, at the facility, it’s nurses,” Brown Vega said. “And to see they’re using these devices to not really provide information on what people need to know for their own health and well-being is an issue.”

Other findings in the letter include:

• Multiple reports from detainees that they were only given beans for some meals. 
• Violations in following pandemic requirements for disinfecting housing units. 
• Employees at OCPC made critical decisions without informing MTC or ICE leadership.
• Broken security cameras weren’t properly identified and fixed.
• Fire alarm issues, and violations with maintenance checks of fire extinguishers and general facility safety checks.

The letter, which requests within 15 days a formal plan for how violations will be addressed, says the findings listed “are not all inclusive but show that there are many areas of concern within the OCPC facility operations…” It is unclear if MTC or the county provided the required plans, and neither responded to a request for comment. 

Since September 2020, MTC has operated OCPC under a temporary agreement that includes a 500-bed guaranteed minimum and an increase in the pay rate for each bed, ensuring MTC is paid at least $1.9 million a month. That agreement, originally set to expire at the end of August, was extended to the end of October.

“They rely on the cheap labor of the individuals they’re detaining to run the facility and even then it’s inadequate.”

“This memo is dated June 23rd,” Brown Vega said. “Despite this, ICE still extended (MTC’s) contract for a month beyond when it was set to expire and are still in negotiation for a renewal or a possible new contract.”

Brown Vega said she’s not optimistic this letter will lead to meaningful changes at OCPC. She hasn’t seen any improvements in the four years AVID has been monitoring the facility. During that time, her organization, government inspectors, and activists have reported inadequate food, misuse of solitary confinement, harassment of LGBTQ+ individuals, difficulty accessing attorneys, and more at the facility.

Recent financial filings from US Bank, which oversees the bonds that financed the construction of OCPC, indicate MTC is working toward a multi-year contract “at a rate that would cover 100% of the Debt Service pricing component,” the filing says. Otero budget documents show about $45.2 million are still due between now and 2028 on bonds that financed the construction of the facility.

Earlier this year, an Otero County attorney told legislators those bonds prevented the closure of OCPC. But Reilly White, a public finance expert who reviewed the bonds, disagreed, telling the ACLU of New Mexico that if the detention facility closed, the county wouldn’t be liable for that bond debt.

Contact Invesitgative Reporter Leonardo Castañeda at [email protected]

Update: This story was updated on Oct. 27 at 3:15 p.m. with a statement from U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Rabbi Jeffrey and his wife Mindy have long been committed to giving back to their community. In the midst of a global pandemic, an ugly election, and an insurrection, that commitment only intensified. They set out to travel the United States in an RV they named Seymour to listen and learn and returned with a better understanding of the distinct needs of local communities. Along the way, they made generous donations to every ACLU affiliate in the U.S., including New Mexico. We spoke with them to learn more about what led them on this journey.

The Torch: For some time now, the two of you have been involved in philanthropy and humanitarian work. Can you talk a little bit about how you started on this path?

Rabbi Jeffrey: Of course, it started with our parents and our role models when we were children. We’re the disciples of some real community heroes. But this project started when a simple idea hit me kind of like a freight train. It was in the middle of the pandemic and, you know, there was horrible division, and there was so much pain. And this idea just came, and it was, things that happen far away, affect us locally.

I heard something on NPR from a guy that owned a restaurant. He said, “it’s been a really bad year for us. But we’re not looking for a tax break. We’re not looking for a donation. All we want is customers.”

I thought that was pretty deep. I thought, rather than be a donor, how can I be a customer of the things that I really liked, not just restaurants, but things that I think are important for America.

Mindy: So, in January, to connect and reach out to places that are far away from where we were, we took an RV across the country, and we made our stops match up with ACLU, affiliates and United Way branches.

They say “love the stranger”, but they don’t say where the stranger lives.

Rabbi Jeffrey: We went back to the southern tip of Texas and the Mexico border to meet with the people that run the homeless shelters, the Boys and Girls Club, Salvation Army, and crisis centers and soup kitchens that serve thousands of immigrants. And we asked them, “what are some words you’d use to describe  immigrants?” They were very different words than what we had heard over and over again in the news.

The Torch: What are the values that encourage you both to do this work?

Rabbi Jeffrey: They say “love the stranger”, but they don’t say where the stranger lives. There’s nothing that’s repeated more in the books of the bible, we call Torah, than, “love the stranger.” Welcome the stranger into your home. 38 times. It’s as though that’s the biggest and most important thing in all of the Bible.

Mindy: So, one of the central prayers of Judaism is the Shema, which means “listen.” And in the paragraph that comes after it starts with the word “love.” And so in order to love you have to hear first. In order to love something, you need to know it. So, we went out, to know, to learn to see, to expand our circles of awareness.

The Torch: What specifically is it about the ACLU’s mission that encouraged you to give to our organization?

Rabbi Jeffrey: We started donating to every single United Way. We gave to thousands of libraries in the United States and joined many synagogues.

And it was my son that said, if you’re going to give to United Way, you should also give to the ACLU. So, we set out to do that, to include you guys as well. We were already members and we wanted to support people who are doing great stuff, like the ACLU.

When we sent our donations, we included a note saying something like “what you’re doing is really heroic and we want to partner with you.” When affiliates responded to our note, we gave them an even larger donation.

Your clients are people that need to have their voices heard and whose rights are trampled on. People that don’t have anyone else to stand up for them be on their behalf. But the other part of your clients are the people who want to give.

You are doing miraculous things for the people whose name is on the bottom of that check. They are your clientele every bit as much as the others. You are helping them to be the people that they are intended to be.

If some of these incredible stories got out, of people helping others, and if people were to put themselves in other people’s shoes, I think America would be a much better country.

The Torch: Rather than just giving to the national ACLU, you also donated to local affiliates. Can you talk about your decision to do so and what it means to give at the local level?

Rabbi Jeffrey: When you give locally, amazing things happen.

I have this idea that almost guarantees will make your day a better day. You pick a place in the United States you’ve never been to and call up the people who are doing the work and you say, “Hi, I’ve never been to where you’re at, and I might never get there. But what you’re doing is really important to me.” You learn about what they’re working on, and you make a donation to help them do better.

I can’t think of anything that better bridges the divides in our country. It’s as easy as that.

The Torch: You actually came to New Mexico as part of a larger listening tour you did across the country. What was your experience in New Mexico like?

Mindy: Yes, we did. Well, it was lovely but cold! We were in Albuquerque in January, with a wind freezing snowstorm. Then we visited Santa Fe. It was right after the insurrection and the Capital was boarded up. There were police everywhere. It was an interesting time to be there.

The Torch: Anything else you want to share?

Rabbi Jeffrey: I think there’s a lot more caring in America than people realize. I think that people who are downtrodden are so ostracized, there’s so much fear. And people that just don’t care to look, and don’t care to listen. It’s detrimental to America. If some of these incredible stories got out, of people helping others, and if people were to put themselves in other people’s shoes, I think America would be a much better country.