The Ombudsman Reacts to Feedback From U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ICE: ICE detention facilities are not experiencing overcrowding conditions. In fact, ICE takes appropriate and necessary action to ensure that facilities do not exceed their capacity.

Ombudsman: You say that ICE detention facilities are not overcrowded. Since 2001, the number of detainees has more than tripled to 311,000, according to ICE and GAO figures.

Priest and Goldstein have documents showing the individual facilities and the number of detainees there at a given time. One I viewed from March 2007 showed one facility had many more than the number of detainees it was built for. The documents show that certain facilities had "critical" staffing problems; those were also documented in interviews.

Post: "The detainees have less access to lawyers than convicted murderers in maximum-security prisons, and some have fewer comforts than al-Qaeda terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."

ICE: Individuals who are detained while in administrative removal proceedings are entitled to an attorney at no expense to the government and we provide all detainees with a list of pro bono representatives. All facilities are expected to abide by the ICE National Detention Standards. Under these standards, attorneys are entitled to, and receive, more access than any other visitor to ICE facilities, and cannot be compared to how "convicted murderers" are treated. The facility shall permit legal visitation seven days a week, including holidays, for a minimum of eight hours per day on weekdays. Given the comprehensive ICE National Detention Standards, developed in consultation with a number of immigrants' advocacy groups and the American Bar Association, it is hard to imagine how the treatment of detainees can be in any way be compared to Guantanamo Bay. It bears noting that neither reporter has requested to tour a single ICE detention facility. Many reporters from a number of media have requested and been provided tours, resulting in more balanced stories.

Ombudsman: ICE detainees have no right to public defenders; murderers in maximum security prisons have access to government-paid lawyers. So I would say that the detainees are not "entitled" to lawyers.

You say that they are given lists of pro bono lawyers. Priest and Goldstein interviewed several officials from the American Immigration Lawyers Association who said nine out of ten detainees have no attorneys. The officials and other lawyers they interviewed said detainees are sometimes moved around the country, making access to lawyers more difficult, and there are long waits to see an attorney. Sometimes they can only meet through video conferencing.

Priest and Goldstein wrote that some immigration detainees have "fewer comforts" than terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay. One of these "comforts" is outdoor recreation areas. The reporters said that Pinal County Jail in Arizona and Elizabeth SPC in New Jersey do not have outdoor facilities, and Otay Mesa, in California, has only a very small area. Guantanamo has better outdoor facilities as can be seen on their website. Detainees get two hours a day of outdoor time according to the military.

You also say that all ICE facilities "are expected to abide by the ICE National Detention Standards." But the standards are not codified, so they cannot be legally enforced.

Post: "The most vulnerable detainees, the physically sick and the mentally ill, are sometimes denied the proper treatment to which they are entitled by law and regulation. They are locked in a world of slow care, poor care and no care, with panic and coverups among employees watching it happen, according to a Post investigation."

ICE: Sick call requests are prioritized 24/7 based on urgency of need for medical treatment. They are triaged daily and scheduled accordingly. Those in need of immediate treatment are seen right away and lower priority cases are scheduled as appropriate.

Ombudsman: The series lists many cases where that didn't happen.