The ACLU and its partners recently sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security condemning the deplorable conditions inside Diamondback Correctional Facility. Over the past few months, we have received reports from formerly or currently detained noncitizens alleging inadequate medical care, poor food and water quality, restrictions on access to outdoor recreation time, unnecessary barriers to attorney and family contact, and the prevalence of indefinite, prolonged detention. We are asking the Department of Homeland Security to conduct a comprehensive review of Diamondback’s systems and we’re urging the federal government not to transfer in any new noncitizens until they can ensure the public that the facility has adequate systems in place to provide for constitutional health care, attorney access, access to outdoor recreation, and processes for swiftly effectuating voluntary departure orders. We have also invited Department of Homeland Security officials to meet with us to discuss how they intend to align their conditions with the controlling legal and constitutional standards.
The issues described in the letter have implications that reach far beyond the conditions of one immigration detention center in Oklahoma. Diamondback is but a canary in the coal mine, a bellwether to assess whether we as a society are content with our federal tax dollars funding the Department of Homeland Security’s reckless and inhumane deportation drive. Seldom in this country’s history has a federal agency wielded so much raw power with so little accountability and oversight. So much harm has already been wrought on our family members, neighbors, and friends. If we are ever going to restore due process, fairness, and basic human decency to our federal immigration system, it will take all of us. Fortunately, the ACLU believes that our communities are up to the task. Accordingly, we are calling on community members to do the following:
- Write to your state and federal elected officials and encourage them to investigate the conditions inside Diamondback and to push for legislation designed to promote transparency, fairness, and humane living conditions inside detention facilities in Oklahoma;
- Encourage your local elected officials to commit to passing resolutions and zoning ordinances requiring impact reports and public hearings before any new detention center is built in your community;
- Encourage your local elected officials to resist entering into cooperative agreements with ICE or, if they’ve already done so, to minimize local police’s involvement in immigration enforcement;
- Organize with, or create your own, rapid response groups designed to assess the needs of detained people and their loved ones and consider creating or contributing to a mutual aid fund; and
- Schedule Know Your Rights and rapid response trainings to ensure your community is prepared to mitigate harm if your community members end up in ICE detention.
The fight for a fairer, safer, and more humane immigration system requires all of us. If you have any questions about how to join this fight, do not hesitate to contact us at intake@acluok.org.