Medical neglect, 3-day lock downs: Inside dire conditions at Kansas ICE prison

When he began experiencing warmth and pain in the area of his kidneys, one immigrant detainee at the federal prison in Leavenworth tried to get medical help. Unable to communicate in English and without access to a translator in the prison or a Spanish-language request form, he filled out several request forms in Spanish. They all went unanswered. Another U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee experiencing a severe toothache was denied dental care and told by prison staff to purchase ibuprofen from the commissary. Without any money, he’s had to endure the pain for three months. TOP VIDEOS The American Civil Liberties Union and several immigrant rights advocacy groups sent a letter to federal authorities Thursday calling for immediate changes in response to reports from detainees and their attorneys. Reports included complaints of dire conditions for the roughly 80 men being held in ICE custody at Leavenworth. They say non-ICE inmates there are allowed to exercise in the outdoor yard but those in ICE custody aren’t. ICE detainees also face extended lock downs in crowded, unsanitary cells, including some that were meant for four people and have been outfitted with three triple bunk beds to squeeze in nine. “On frequent occasions — at least once every two weeks — the facility is so understaffed that officers have refused to let detainees out of their cells for more than 72 consecutive hours, or three days,” the letter says. It also alleges that ICE detainees are forced to purchase phone calls with their attorneys, and that while other inmates are permitted to speak with their legal counsel in private, ICE detainees can only do so in crowded dayrooms. In some cases, the letter says, detainees who have won their immigration cases remain confined in Leavenworth for months afterwards. “The Federal Bureau of Prisons is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all inmates in our population, our staff, and the public,” agency spokesperson Randilee Giamusso said in an email. “We have received the letter. However, we do not comment on matters related to pending litigation, legal proceedings, or investigations.” In response to a follow-up question about whether BOP is investigating conditions at the Leavenworth prison, Giamusso said the agency “does not confirm or deny investigations.” ICE did not respond to a request for comment. Conditions for ICE detainees As the courtroom fight plays out over whether for-profit prison chain CoreCivic can reopen its shuttered Leavenworth facility as an ICE detention center, the federal government has quietly been holding immigrants in a nearby facility for months. Leavenworth is one of five federal prisons designated to hold ICE detainees under a February agreement obtained by The Star. The ACLU and immigrant rights groups allege that the treatment of immigrant detainees violates federal laws, ICE standards and the contract under which detainees were brought to Leavenworth. “The Interagency Agreement between ICE and BOP specifies that ‘ICE shall provide ICE detainees capabilities to make free phone calls to recipients as in a standard ICE detention facility,’ including installation of phone lines to make pro bono phone calls, ‘a speed dial number directory for legal, advocacy, and consulates,’ on unmonitored lines,” the letter states. But in reality, it alleges, ICE detainees are subject to the same 300-minute-a-month cap on phone calls as other inmates at the prison, and all calls, including those with attorneys, are recorded and take place in the presence of other detainees. “Telephone calls are only permitted to a pre-approved list of phone numbers,” the letter says. “If a phone number appears on the list of more than one detainee, that phone number is blocked, causing particular difficulty for detainees who may have retained the same attorney.” Immigrant detainees at Leavenworth have also routinely been charged for medical care in violation of ICE standards, and have faced long delays in having their prescriptions filled, the letter says. And although ICE policy says “detainees may not be charged for copying or printing a reasonable amount of legal material,” detainees report being charged by the page with no exceptions when they try to print from the computers at the prison law library. Among other things, the letter calls for ICE and BOP to release all detainees who have already won their case before an immigration judge, to cease unreasonable lock downs, and to provide at a minimum one hour of outdoor recreation time daily. It also calls on the prison to stop charging copays, to ensure medication is provided promptly at no cost, to furnish and respond to request forms in Spanish and to allow legal calls to be made in privacy.