Deal reached to house detainees

By ELIAS J. GROLL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Thursday, July 15 2010

The Orange County Sheriff's Department has struck an agreement with the federal government to house immigration detainees that will generate $30 million in revenue for the department, according to documents made public Wednesday.

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens had touted the agreement as a solution to the department's fiscal woes, and the newly minted contract appears to more than close the department's budget gap.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement will pay $118 per detainee per day under an agreement that provides space for the housing of 838 suspected illegal immigrants who will be distributed between the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange and James A. Musick Facility near Irvine. Officials had said that the agreement would provide space for 1,400 detainees.

(Photo by Jorge-Mario Cabrera)

In coming years, the agreement will generate $35 million per year in revenue. Around $6million of that will go to the Health Care Agency.

ICE detainees primarily consist of individuals who have been convicted of a crime and lacked proof of citizenship when arrested. Upon completing their sentence, they are transferred to ICE custody while awaiting immigration proceedings.

As part of implementing the agreement, the department will spend about $6 million to renovate the two facilities, including the installation of three courtrooms.

While providing a needed cash infusion, the sheriff's decision to contract with ICE violates a longstanding agreement between the city of Orange and the sheriff's office that stipulates that no further expansion or change in operating procedure would occur at Theo Lacy, according to David DeBerry, Orange's city attorney.

"The (city's agreement) specifically describes the operational characteristics and to now say that they are going to hold illegal immigrants at Theo Lacy is an operational change," DeBerry said.

John McDonald, a spokesman for the sheriff, disputed that the department had violated the agreement.

"We are very cognizant of the concerns that the city of Orange has," he said. "I do know that there has been concern that there would be the release of detainees in their city, but there will be no detainees released in their city."

Carolyn Cavecche, the mayor of Orange, said that she was concerned what changes "federalizing" the prison would bring to the city. "What happens in 10 years when they need to bring in a different type of prisoner?" she said. "It's more of a slippery slope."

City officials met with the Sheriff's Department Wednesday, but it was unclear whether the city's concerns had been addressed.

The Department of Homeland Security has said that it would move away from contracting with local authorities to provide beds for its detainees, and critics of the department say that the recent agreement is a departure from proposed overhauls aimed at reducing abuse within its detention system.

"ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in its custody are detained in safe and secure environments," said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the agency, in a statement.

Immigrant rights activists are critical of the proposed contract, pointing to the various allegations of in-detention deaths and inhumane treatment of detainees at municipal jails that contract with ICE.

"We know ICE needs new beds but it seems that this subcontracting with Orange County is a step backward. We are concerned about the expansion of detention in general, but in particular the expansion of this kind of subcontracting in facilities that are not run by ICE themselves," said Carl Bergquist, a policy advocate with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors will consider the proposed agreement Tuesday.

Staff writer Cindy Carcamo contributed to this report.

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