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.

A private prison company secured an agreement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that guaranteed it nearly $2 million a month during the pandemic, shortly after the company threatened to end its government contract because of low detainee populations.

The temporary agreement, which went into effect Sept. 1, 2020, guaranteed that ICE would pay Management & Training Corporation (MTC) for 500 beds at the Otero County Processing Center (OCPC), regardless of how many people were detained there, according to documents newly obtained by the ACLU of New Mexico.

“The minimum provisions point to how, at a fundamental level, the arrangement between MTC and the government puts profits first and foremost,” said Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico. “They’re seeking to lock in a certain level of guaranteed profitability of the detention center.”

MTC also received a significant pay increase on what’s known as a bed rate, the amount ICE pays per day for each detained person. Under its original contract, which is adjusted regularly for inflation, MTC was paid, as of March 2019, $102.34 for detainees 1 through 825. 

“The minimum provisions point to how, at a fundamental level, the arrangement between MTC and the government puts profits first and foremost.”

Under the new temporary agreement, obtained by the ACLU of New Mexico via a records request, MTC was paid $126.68 for the first 500 detainees. The company was then paid $89.76 for detainees 501 through 825. Under both agreements, MTC is paid $31.12 for any detainees above 825.

This new agreement meant MTC was guaranteed about $1,926,591 per month. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Allegra Love, an attorney with the El Paso Immigration Collaborative who has worked with detained migrants at facilities throughout the state, was critical of the agreement. OCPC has been under scrutiny for years, with government investigators, advocates and researchers finding bad food, misuse of solitary confinement, harassment of LGBTQ+ individuals, difficulty accessing attorneys, and more.

“MTC is a predatory corporation with an abysmal record for protecting human rights,” Love said in an email. “They should not be trusted to care for the people in their custody much less be allowed to profit so richly off of it.”

In a statement, Sen. Martin Heinrich said private prisons and immigration detention centers were not an alternative to needed immigration reform. He called for reforms including a pathway to citizenship and ensuring safety and security at the border.

“We can reduce crime while also building a more just criminal justice system,” Heinrich said. “That includes putting an end to corporations profiteering off of incarceration.”

At the time the new agreement for OCPC went into effect, jails and prisons throughout New Mexico were reducing population numbers to combat the spread of COVID-19. Despite that, ICE officials rebuffed offers of help at OCPC from New Mexico health officials, according to the news organization Reveal. At least 561 people at OCPC have tested positive for COVID-19, according to ICE data.  

Despite that, public financial documents show that the population at OCPC -- the original reason MTC gave for needing to end its contract -- has been increasing. On May 3, 2021, there were 214 people at OCPC, but by June 6, there were 666 detainees, the most in the past 16 months, according to financial filings from June.

“They should not be trusted to care for the people in their custody much less be allowed to profit so richly off of it.”

Since then, the number of detainees has been between 321 and 634, according to an Oct. 1 financial filing.

Under the new temporary agreement, ICE would’ve paid MTC an estimated $78,240 for its single fullest day, June 6. That’s roughly $10,000 more than what it’s estimated it would’ve paid under the previous contract. On the day with 321 detainees, ICE would’ve paid MTC an estimated $63,340. Under the previous contract, it would’ve paid about $33,000.

During fiscal year 2021, OCPC has had an average daily population of 298 people, according to statistics published by ICE in early October. Under the previous OCPC contract, ICE would’ve paid an estimated $11.1 million for bed space at OCPC. Under the temporary agreement, it paid MTC an estimated $23.1 million, although that figure could be higher because of times where the population at the facility passed the 500-bed minimum.

Neither amount includes money paid to MTC for additional services such as transportation or overtime guards. ICE did not respond to a request for comment.

The temporary agreement between ICE and MTC is due to expire at the end of October. But recent financial filings from US Bank, which oversees the bonds that financed the construction of OCPC, indicate the company is working toward a long-term extension. 

MTC “reports that there have been constructive discussions in contracting for a multiple year extension 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. 

Sheff said she’s concerned about the negotiations behind closed doors and the potential for guaranteed bed minimums for years to come, which incentivize ICE to detain more people to fill beds they’re already paying for.

“The long-term nature of these contracts is equally troubling because it would tie the hands of not just the government at its current configurations, but far into the future,” she said.

At least one other ICE detention facility in New Mexico, in Torrance County, has a guaranteed bed minimum. That facility, operated by CoreCivic, is paid for at least 714 beds, although in fiscal year 2021 it averaged just 152 daily detainees, according to ICE statistics.

“All of us in New Mexico, no matter where we live, no matter what political party, must pay attention to the details of private detention contracts in our counties,” Love said, “and decide if we want to continue to invite wealthy, extractive, private prison companies into our state to profit off of human suffering.”

Contact Invesitgative Reporter Leonardo Castañeda at [email protected]