Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-Albuquerque) recently visited the Torrance County Detention Facility, following a report issued by the inspector general. The report was released after federal investigators covertly investigated the private New Mexico prison, which holds migrants, and said the inmates needed to be transported to a new facility as a result of poor prison conditions and problems with security, according to KRQE.
Stansbury went to the prison to see if the conditions were similar to what the report found; she said the conditions were not what the report claimed them to be. Representatives from the ACLU did not agree.
"Regardless of the authority that agencies like ICE may have to detain people, there is no justification for holding them in such degrading and inhumane conditions," Rebecca Sheff, ACLU attorney, said to KRQE.
The report detailed cleanliness problems in addition to a lack of staffing and security blind spots. Stansbury disagreed and said the facility appeared to be clean. The report also claimed there were problems with mold and clogging of toilets, according to KRQE. The individuals being held at this facility are waiting for migration hearings.
Core Civic, the firm that operates the jail, said the poor conditions reported were from empty areas of the jail.