(Image source from: KTAR.com)
A small Arizona city has concluded its role in an unusual contract that allowed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to run a family detention center in Texas, where attorneys say a child became ill and died after her release.
The city of Eloy already had an agreement for a detention facility with ICE and the private detention company CoreCivic when it entered the contract in 2014 involving the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley.
In February, a report by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Inspector General slammed ICE over the agreement, saying it didn't follow feral procurement guidelines.
The report said ICE could have contracted directly with CoreCivic but instead created "an unnecessary 'middleman.'"
Eloy was the subject of a notice of claim - the precursor to a lawsuit - earlier this month by lawyers for the mother of Mariee Juarez, a toddler who died after being released from Dilley.
"This is overdue action from the city of Eloy to separate itself from the operation and management of the ICE 'family detention' facility in Dilley, Texas," attorney R. Stanton Jones said in a statement.
He said the toddler fell ill as a result of the "unsafe and unsanitary conditions and then was denied proper medical care."
The 21-month-old baby died of viral pneumonitis, an inflammation of lung tissue. At that time, ICE said that it takes the safety, health, and welfare of detainees seriously and supplies comprehensive medical aid.
On Monday, City Manager Harvey Krauss said the Eloy City Council voted to end that contract at the request of ICE. The city has netted about $1.5 million in revenue from the contract that was always intended to be temporary, he said. It will proceed to contract with ICE for a detention center in Eloy.
"This was initiated by ICE, it wasn't initiated by us. We didn't have any control or say in that," Krauss said.
ICE officials have said they opted for the agreement with Eloy as a last-minute means to rapidly open the Texas detention center because of a surge of families coming to the U.S. from Central America. The center opened in December 2014.
CoreCivic said the agreement is being moved to the Dilley. ICE spokeswoman Sarah Rodriguez said the agency is not commenting because of ongoing negotiations.
David L. Jordan, the Dilley city administrator, said it's still negotiating on the contract, but would not comment further.
By Sowmya Sangam
