Reeves Detention Center in Texas Known for Abuse

A week ago we blogged about the protests over the Reeves Detention Center in Pecos. Here’s a related message from the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights:

Earlier this year, NNIRR responded to a flood of calls from family members of immigrant prisoners at the Reeves County Detention Complex (RCDC) in Pecos, Texas where prisoners protested inhumane conditions, which led to the deaths of several prisoners after being punished with solitary confinement for requesting medical care for delicate conditions.

Now, one year after prisoners rose up to protest these deplorable conditions and treatment, not much has changed at RCDC.

“I worry for my son’s health and well-being since he was transferred to the Reeves facility. They have very little to eat and are kept in really bad conditions. He tells us there are 60-80 people crammed in a room. We have sent him several money orders so he can make calls to us, and he never received them. The guards treat the prisoners badly and with no respect. I have seen the changes in my son since he was transferred there, and I am afraid they [guards] would leave him to die if he became ill, as they have done with so many others.” — NNIRR interview with mother of RCDC prisoner (9/17/09)

Immigrant prisoners at RCDC continue to face abusive treatment by guards, and are subjected to inhumane conditions including overcrowding, inadequate food prepared under unsanitary conditions, and denial of access to basic medical care or attention which has led to six deaths since last year alone. Immigrant prisoners at RCDC, segregated from the federal prison population, deserve equal protection under the law.

In honor of International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10) and International Migrant’s Day (Dec.18), NNIRR joins with prisoners’ families, Grassroots Leadership, Southwest Workers Union, and the ACLU-Texas to demand accountability for ongoing abuses perpetrated against immigrant prisoners at RCDC and urge the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) under the Department of Justice (DOJ) to terminate its contract with the controversial GEO Group.

Click HERE to Take Action Now and Demand Accountability for Abuses Against Immigrant Prisoners at Reeves.

December 12th marked the one-year anniversary of the first prisoner uprising at RCDC, after prisoners expressed their concerns and grievances for inhumane treatment, conditions, and severe human rights violations perpetrated against the most vulnerable prisoners. 

Join us in urging the DOJ and BOP to take immediate action and uphold the human rights of immigrant prisoners at Reeves County Detention Complex, fully investigate prisoner deaths and abuses, and ensure accountability and oversight. Until then, the BOP must terminate its contract with The GEO Group, the company which currently runs and operates the RCDC facility.

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