Article: Immigration/Detention
Source: azcentral.com (The Republic)

http://www.azcentral.com/news/arizona/articles/20130502ice-probe-inmate-suicides-eloy.html?nclick_check=1

ICE to probe 2 inmate suicides at Eloy detention center

By JJ HensleyThe Republic | azcentral.comThu May 2, 2013 10:51 PM

Federal immigration officials will review operations at a privately owned detention center in Eloy after two immigrants committed suicide in a span of three days earlier this week.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on Thursday confirmed the death of Jorge Garcia-Mejia, 40, who hanged himself in his cell Tuesday. Garcia-Mejia, a native of Guatemala, had been in custody since March 23.

Elsa Guadalupe-Gonzales, 24, was found hanging and unresponsive in her cell Sunday afternoon.

Guadalupe-Gonzales’ body was discovered shortly after 6 p.m. on Sunday, and Garcia-Mejia’s body was discovered at about 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, according to a statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The times of their deaths could play a role in the federal probe because officers at the facility are charged with providing direct supervision of the detainees.

Steve Owen, a spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the facility in Eloy, said that when officers assigned to a specific pod or unit have to escort detainees to meals or recreation, the task of supervision falls to an officer in a central location who tries to monitor the detainees who choose not to participate.

“Occasionally, a small handful of detainees may choose not to turn out for these activities,” Owen said in an e-mail. “During those times, the rotunda officer provides indirect supervision of all the pods and coordinates with other unit management staff in the housing unit (unit manager, correctional counselors, case managers, etc.) to provide emergency response as needed. Staff and detainee safety is always our top priority. That’s one of the reasons why all mandatory posts are staffed, regardless of any vacant positions the facility may have.”

The CCA facility in Eloy has nearly 1,600 beds and is operated in compliance with ICE’s detention standards implemented in 2008, according to the agency. Standards adopted in 2011 have additional requirements related to suicide prevention, and the federal agency is in ongoing negotiations with CCA to implement those standards, according to ICE.

Amber Cargile, an ICE spokeswoman in Phoenix, said the audit would include a review of the Eloy facility’s policies and practices related to suicide prevention.

“ICE Health Service Corps is conducting a thorough assessment of these incidents,” Cargile wrote. “The agency is also assessing Correction Corporation of America’s staffing model to ensure it provides appropriate supervision and monitoring of detainees at the facility.”

An inspection ICE conducted in July found the Eloy facility to be “fully compliant” with national standards on suicide prevention.

The July report noted that 42 detainees were placed on suicide watch during the previous year but none attempted suicide. The inspection also included the review of medical records for 10 of those detainees, and auditors determined the facility met national standards in the monitoring and treatment of suicidal inmates.

The ICE report on the inspection also noted that a detainee’s death at a Tucson hospital in October 2011 was the “first detainee death ever to occur at (the Eloy center).”

But an ICE report on deaths in custody lists nine other Eloy detainees who died from October 2003 to December 2012.

Victoria Lopez, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona who specializes in immigrant detention, said the news of two suicides in three days confirms some of the long-standing concerns about the Eloy facility and the adequacy of ICE’s oversight.

“We have been calling for a number of years now that ICE take a look at their contracts in Arizona including CCA,” Lopez said. “One of the criticisms, for many years now, about the way that ICE manages these detention centers is that there isn’t adequate oversight and inspections. It’s either ICE doing the inspections themselves or they contract with private auditors. There’s no independent oversight of these conditions in these detention centers.”