Josh Dawsey/The Washington Post via AP, Pool
By Jaanvi Kaur
FOLKSTON, GA — The ACLU condemned a recent agreement between GEO Group and Charleston County that nearly quadrupled the size of an immigrant detention center in South Georgia, the Folkston ICE Processing Center (FIPC).
This agreement would increase the facility’s capacity from 780 beds to 3,018, making FIPC the largest ICE detention center in the country.
The ACLU accused the Biden administration of failing to live up to its promise made in July 2019 when he ran for president to end private incarceration.
ACLU Deputy National Political Director Maribel Hernández Rivera made the following statement:
“President Biden pledged to end all private detentions last year while speaking in Georgia. But under his administration, private companies have continued to capitalize on our country’s reliance on mass incarceration by expanding contracts with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The news that GEO Group has reached an agreement with Charlton County officials to create one of the largest immigration detention facilities in the country is deeply disappointing and deeply concerning…”
The state of Georgia, the ACLU noted, is already a major hub for ICE human rights abuses, including a staggering death toll and widespread medical abuse, and the Biden administration’s lack of enforcement will only exacerbate that problem.
The ACLU listed a number of problems at Folkston Detention Center, including poor sanitation related to vermin and plumbing, lack of access to legal counsel, residents being detained 22 hours a day and medical inattention putting the lives of those incarcerated at the center at risk .
Rivera added that “private prison companies like GEO Group operate with little public oversight and accountability and have poor human rights records. ACLU and government investigators have documented incidents of medical neglect, sexual abuse, attempted suicide and solitary confinement in retaliation at GEO Group facilities.”
Rivera also noted, “To make matters worse, due to inadequate protective measures in facilities, COVID-19 is spreading across the country, putting those in detention at high risk of illness and death if they catch it.”
ACLU Director Rivera stated, “We expect better from the Biden administration. President Biden should make good on his promise to end all private detentions and immediately end partnerships with for-profit immigrant detention companies.”
