Doing Time, Family Style

By Jeralyn, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 01:16:00 AM EST
Tags: immigrants, detention centers (all tags)

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What holds 400 illegal immigrants from 30 countries, 170 of them children? The T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center, for which the Corrections Corporation of America receives $2.8 million per month.

A jail by any other name is still a jail. A detention camp is still a detention camp. That the prisoners wear scrubs instead of orange jumpsuits or pink underwear doesn't change a thing.

The Government invited the media today. Surprise, for the first time there was pizza on the menu. How humane. They brought in plastic potted plants to warm up the place. The Government says its more like a community college than a jail.

What a farce. Can the "students" leave? Of course not. It's a jail.

More...

Outside the blocky buildings with thin slit windows, protesters from a local group called Texans United for Families held up signs saying, “Don’t Jail Children for Profit.”

“If they can put an ankle bracelet on Martha Stewart so she doesn’t run off to Jamaica,” said a protester, Jose Ortan, a computer technician, “they can find ways to do it for immigrant families.”

Devil's Tower at Daily Kos provides his thoughts and notes that the reporters weren't allowed to interview the detainees during the tour.

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Doing Time, Family Style | 25 comments (25 topical)

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Corrections Corp of America.... (none / 0) (#1)
by kdog on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 11:06:28 AM EST

has got a nice little racket going.

Instead of letting the breadwinners in these families go out and earn bread, Corrections Corp. will feed and warehouse these families on our dime. We never have to see them. All for only 2.8 mill per month!

: The American Way (none / 0) (#3)
by wlgriffi on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 11:59:57 AM EST

"What holds 400 illegal immigrants from 30 countries, 170 of them children? The T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center, for which the Corrections Corporation of America receives $2.8 million per month."
Don't you recognize the country insists on "CAPITALISM" as the American "GOD"? What you don't hear about is how much of that $2.8 million is for kickback in the form of campaign donations.
All the squawking about human rights will go as far as the sound barriers outside the Department of Justice.

: kdog (none / 0) (#25)
by jimakaPPJ on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 09:25:21 AM EST

I thought you understood that illegals drive down the wages for Ameicans.

New Cash Crop (none / 0) (#2)
by squeaky on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 11:59:17 AM EST

It turns out that 'farming' farmworkers is way more profitable than traditional farming. Pretty sick.

: Not farming squeaky..... (none / 0) (#4)
by kdog on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 12:06:32 PM EST

I'd call it human warehousing.
Don't know what to do with somebody? If letting them live and breath free isn't an option (apparently it isn't), Corrections Corp. will "take care" of them for you.
It's definitely sick.

The residents of Taylor, TX (none / 0) (#5)
by Edger on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 12:38:46 PM EST

and Williamson County have a few things to say about this prison, and they are not impressed:

As residents of Taylor, Texas, and tax paying citizens of Williamson County and the United States of America, and as parents of 3 Taylor ISD students, we have several concerns regarding the T. Don Hutto Residential Center here in Taylor.
...
Reports that I have seen show a shocking and alarming rate of compensation being paid to the corporation that owns and operates this facility.
The $$ amounts I have seen appear to be far in excess of any reasonable compensation for any type of incarceration (certainly more than Williamson County spends to incarcerate convicted criminals). It appears to be at least 3 times the rate our school district gets to educate our children. I hope the #s I have seen are some horrible typographical error. If they are not, then this facility represents one of the most shocking examples of the fleecing of American tax payers ever seen<.
Again, the #s I have seen in online reports show medical and housing remuneration far in excess of what one would expect to pay in an exclusive 5 star rated hotel with your own personal physician in tow. As a corporate entity with a government contract, they take tax payer money yet answer only to their board of directors.
...
The town has a motto, "Taylor... more to life, more to like". I'm sure the residents of T. Don Hutto can't wait to get their bumper stickers.

If they can't leave, it's prison, pure and simple, no matter what kind of bullsh*t is used to justify it.

: Edger, we kinow you (none / 0) (#13)
by jimakaPPJ on Sun Feb 11, 2007 at 06:42:11 PM EST

If the payments were less you'd complain the illegal aleins aren't be taken care of....

Well you know (none / 0) (#6)
by Che's Lounge on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 12:58:53 PM EST

"Their lives pretty much sucked before, so this works out quite well for them."

Barbara Bush

Jonestown, without the religion. Just don't drink the...well, ANYTHING!

I get $233 per inmate-day which is more (none / 0) (#7)
by JSN on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 03:40:14 PM EST

than twice the rate the US Marshall's Service pays Iowa jails for Federal prisoners and about four times the average rate charged by jails in our part of Iowa to house a prisoner from another county.

At that rate they should be able to pay kickbacks (of course it would be naughty for them to do so) with no problem and still make a good profit. My dad was alive during the Harding administration and he used to say "they are all crooks". I guess so.

Well, we do have to educate all those... (none / 0) (#8)
by Bill Arnett on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 03:49:40 PM EST

...brown people about American democracy, Christianity, regard for human rights...uh...strike that last one, and impress them with what fine jails we provide without regard to age.

They should be very grateful.

Does make me wonder though if we might be creating a new class of terrorist much closer to home.

Nah, they'll be grateful or we'll bring democracy to Mexico.

Bill A (none / 0) (#10)
by jimakaPPJ on Sun Feb 11, 2007 at 08:20:37 AM EST

From the posy.

"If they can put an ankle bracelet on Martha Stewart so she doesn't run off to Jamaica," said a protester, Jose Ortan, a computer technician, "they can find ways to do it for immigrant families."

Uh, these are not immigrant families. These are illegal aliens. The act of them being here is the crime.


Wrong (none / 0) (#14)
by Joe Bob on Sun Feb 11, 2007 at 08:24:26 PM EST

The act of them being here is the crime.

Violating immigration law is a civil, not criminal, offense.


Martha Stewart (none / 0) (#15)
by squeaky on Sun Feb 11, 2007 at 09:40:45 PM EST

yes the only criminal offence is what this admnistration is doing to their prisoners.


Not to mention ... (none / 0) (#16)
by Sailor on Sun Feb 11, 2007 at 10:10:41 PM EST

... the ones applying for amnesty that end up receiving it.

Being kept in a concentration camp in America while trying not to be put in a concentration camp, or worse, in your home country is disgustingly ironic.


: Yes (none / 0) (#17)
by squeaky on Sun Feb 11, 2007 at 10:22:11 PM EST

And Haliburton has the worldwide conrtact to build them and provide prison [refugee] services.

: Sailor (none / 0) (#21)
by jimakaPPJ on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 08:51:53 AM EST

Did you ever think that if they worked out the problems in their home country they wouldn't be here?

No, YOU are wrong (none / 0) (#18)
by Pancho on Sun Feb 11, 2007 at 11:57:36 PM EST

It IS a crime.


Joe Bob (none / 0) (#19)
by jimakaPPJ on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 08:27:59 AM EST

And the penalty for the civil crime is being locked up and deported.

Don't show up and you get no lock up.

Works for me.

Why doesn't that work for you?

Come on, Joe. Fess up. You're an Open Borders kinda guy.


Recent history (none / 0) (#9)
by Cptsalesman on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 10:32:17 PM EST

When you think about the recent history of the way Guards have treated children in Fl under Jeb, it makes me shutter what could happen there. Add to that the lack of these poor souls ability to use Habeas under this AG, we have a recipe for a disaster.

Or a recipe for martial law. (none / 0) (#11)
by Bill Arnett on Sun Feb 11, 2007 at 02:07:38 PM EST

Desensitize as many people as possible to induce acceptance of the unacceptable.


I noticed that ... (none / 0) (#12)
by Sailor on Sun Feb 11, 2007 at 02:22:44 PM EST

... during the dog and pony show the reporters weren't allowed to talk to the inmates.


: But they got pizza! (none / 0) (#20)
by kdog on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 08:41:10 AM EST

Come on Bill (none / 0) (#23)
by jimakaPPJ on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 08:56:56 AM EST

Hmmm... On my list of things that I worry about the government doing... establish martial law is..

1,384,849,200,234 on the list


CptSalesman (none / 0) (#22)
by jimakaPPJ on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 08:54:32 AM EST

Now let me see. You claim that Jeb Bush went to the guards and established a policy of abusing children...

Wow... Speaking of Kool Aid..


Just another day in the Neighborhood (none / 0) (#24)
by jimakaPPJ on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 09:23:11 AM EST

Bill A thinks we are being set up for martial law..

CptSalesman is complaining that guards abused children in the Jeb Bush adminsitration..

Joe Bon evidently thinks we don't need people to obey civil laws...

squeaky is talking about Halliburton building prisons world wide...

Sailor is claiming that they were just escaping a concentration camp at home.

JSN says that the Feds are paying too much per inmate to house and feed them...noting that
"at that rate they should be able to pay kickbacks.."

Che is quoting Barbara Bush about Katrina evacuees ..

kdog is complaining that we won't let'em work...

wlgriffi says "....What you don't hear about is how much of that $2.8 million is for kickback in the form of campaign donations."