NM Dream Team Organizer Itzayana Banda

NM Dream Team News:

CHAPARRAL — People over Private Prisons New Mexico (POPPNM), a coalition consisting of NM Dream Team, Detention Watch Network, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, and New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, are sounding the alarm over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) contract amendment and extension with Otero County to detain people at the Otero County Processing Center (OCPC) through March 31, 2025.

The changes include:

• Establishing a 500 bed guarantee minimum including a guaranteed monthly fee of $2.3 million;

• A bed day rate of $7.55 per person detained per day until the population hits 500 people, and $58.81 per day per additional person detained;

• Changes the facility use from male only to detain male and female immigrants; and

• A requirement for the facility to meet transgender care requirements that could be a precursor for the creation of a dedicated housing unit at OCPC for transgender people.

The renewed contract allows the inhumane detention of immigrants to continue at Otero, which is operated on behalf of Otero County by the private prison company Management and Training Corporation (MTC). The amended contract for OCPC includes a guaranteed minimum that encourages the increased criminalization of immigrant communities in this state. The new contract is MTC’s latest attempt to keep the number of detained immigrants as high as possible for increased profits

“It’s disappointing to see Otero County Commissioners and ICE renew their contract for the operation of the Otero County Processing Center (OCPC),” said Itzayana Banda, NM Dream Team Organizer. “The OCPC has a well-documented history of medical neglect, inhumane treatment, and even deaths. Ten years ago, ICE detained my father for eight months at OCPD. My father would tell me how afraid he was from the mistreatment of guards and the deteriorating conditions of the facility. Our taxpayer dollars should be invested in the well-being of Otero County residents, not the detention and deportation of our loved ones.”

“ICE and the MTC will never be equipped to care for transgender people. The facility operators lack proper medical care and safe conditions to support vulnerable populations, even for designated trans housing units,” said Luis Suarez, Field Advocacy Manager at Detention Watch Network. “In May 2018, Roxsana Hernandez, an asylum seeker, died in ICE’s custody while detained in Cibola, New Mexico. An autopsy report revealed that her death was preventable. ICE should instead release all people, including trans people who migrate to the United States due to transphobic violence.”

“The conditions at OCPC are egregious and have been well-documented for years,” said Sophia Genovese, Senior Attorney at the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center. “No immigrant should be detained, especially those who are vulnerable to violence and exploitation. The expansion of the carceral state is an affront to the values of New Mexicans, and we stand in strong opposition to this contract update.”