Albuquerque, NM – Today, a federal court held the first hearing in Carlos Doe v. ICE, a case that challenges U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) 2022 decision to certify the Torrance County Detention Facility (TCDF) as passing its overall performance evaluation. This certification allowed ICE to continue detaining people at TCDF despite dangerous and inhumane conditions.
The plaintiffs in this case—three individuals who were previously detained at TCDF—argued that ICE’s administrative record is incomplete and that ICE broke the law when it approved TCDF in 2022. Plaintiffs’ attorneys pointed out that ICE left out critical documents, including a March 2022 alert from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (OIG). This unprecedented alert, issued just a month before ICE gave TCDF a passing grade, called for the immediate removal of everyone detained there due to unsafe and unsanitary conditions. The absence of this key evidence raises serious concerns about ICE’s transparency and decision-making.
In 2021, TCDF failed a key performance evaluation. If it had failed again in 2022, a congressional mandate would have required ICE to stop detaining individuals at the facility. However, ICE gave TCDF a passing grade, allowing it to stay open despite overwhelming evidence of unsafe conditions. Today, more than 500 people are detained at TCDF in harmful and unacceptable conditions.
Without a full and accurate record, federal agencies like ICE can avoid accountability, continue making harmful decisions, and endanger lives. While this case has a long road ahead, today’s hearing was a crucial step in the fight to ensure ICE is held responsible for its actions.
Mary Georgevich, Senior Litigation Attorney with the National Immigrant Justice Center said:
“Today’s hearing was about ensuring that the court has access to all the evidence ICE considered when it decided to keep detaining people at TCDF. This includes the OIG alert that called for the immediate removal of people from the facility. By withholding critical evidence, ICE is trying to avoid accountability for certifying TCDF as compliant with federal standards despite the appalling conditions. We will keep fighting until transparency and justice are achieved for those detained at TCDF.”
Rachel Landry, attorney with Innovation Law Lab said:
“No one should have to endure the unsafe and inhumane conditions that persist at TCDF, yet over 500 individuals seeking safety in the United States are currently detained there. Today’s hearing is an important step toward exposing the egregiously substandard conditions ICE knew about when it decided to certify this facility in 2022 as compliant with national detention standards. ICE must be held accountable.”
Rebecca Sheff, attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico said:
“With reports that ICE is considering expanding detention capacity at TCDF, it’s more urgent than ever to highlight that ICE should have discontinued its use of this facility in 2022. It’s time to end immigration detention at TCDF for good.”
We stand with those impacted by ICE’s harmful decisions and remain committed to ending inhumane detention practices.
Plaintiffs in this case are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, Innovation Law Lab, National Immigrant Justice Center, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP
