Here's what Tacoma's U.S. Rep. Emily Randall saw in tour of ICE detention center
Randall, a Democrat who represents Washington's 6th Congressional District, spoke to reporters outside the Northwest ICE Processing Center after her tour. She pointed out issues with under-staffing, limits to outdoor recreation for detainees and the renewed stoppage of funding for a legal-aid information program for people facing deportation.
Her visit came in response to what she called a concerning increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement targeting labor leaders in immigration raids, such as last month's arrest of 25-year-old Alfredo 'Lelo' Juarez Zeferino, a farming labor activist in Whatcom County. Randall was also concerned about the facility lacking compliance with medical and sanitary condition requirements.
'I saw it really important for Congress, particularly Congressional Democrats because no one else is doing it, to step up and use our oversight authority,' Randall said. 'I wanted to come firsthand and check some of the rumors that we've been hearing, understand what's happening here within these walls.'
Randall is a member of the U.S. House Oversight Committee, and she said she didn't think this would be her last visit. The congresswoman's tour did not include meetings with detainees. She spoke with staff from ICE and the GEO Group, the federal contractor that runs the facility, as well as a healthcare official.
There were talks about returning to visit individuals detained there, she said, noting that she's heard from colleagues in Congress who have constituents from places such as Los Angeles who are detained in Tacoma.
More than 1,300 people were detained at the NWIPC on Tuesday, Randall said, just a couple hundred short of its capacity. About 700 people were detained there in November, according to ICE statistics, and Randall said she would expect that surge to require a 'pretty intensive' staff increase.
Randall said what was most heartening to her was that healthcare positions at the detention center are almost entirely filled after a 30-percent vacancy. She said there are gaps in the rest of the staff, with openings for 40-plus jobs.
'While they maintain that they're able to do the work, I worry about people's timely access to some of the services that are available,' Randall said.
Prior to Randall's tour, the congresswoman met with immigrant-rights organizations including the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Firelands Workers United and Mi Centro.
Mi Centro, a decades-old nonprofit in Tacoma, offers services to the Latino community such as English-language classes and domestic-violence resources while also doing advocacy work on immigration rights.
Maria Chavez, executive assistant at Mi Centro, told The News Tribune she was grateful Randall took time to listen to the concerns Mi Centro has been hearing, particularly what she said were inhumane conditions at the detention center.
'We believe that she can make a difference, even though it will be a tough, tough run,' Chavez said.
Top of mind for Chavez was state-level oversight of the NWIPC. She said she hoped for the passage of House Bill 1232, which is the state Legislature's latest attempt at increasing oversight of privately-run detention facilities. The bill is still moving through the statehouse before the legislative session ends Sunday.
'Many people that are detained do not have criminal records, and yet they are being mistreated,' Chavez said.
Access to outdoor recreation has been curtailed in recent weeks because of an escape last month from a recreation yard behind the building. According to court records filed in the related criminal case, a 24-year-old man from Venezuela scaled a perimeter fence to escape on foot.
Randall said she saw the fence being repaired during her tour.
Typically, according to Randall, everyone in the facility is rotated through two yards, but not everyone can get access every day now that they're down to one. Randall said that means some people have gone three weeks without regular access to outdoor recreation.
Federal funding for legal-aid information programs has recently been stopped at the NWIPC, including for the Legal Orientation Program, which educates noncitizens in deportation cases about their rights in the immigration process.
The programs had restarted after being halted days after President Donald Trump was sworn into office, but funding was cut off again April 16 by the U.S. Justice Department.
The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project previously had staff go to the facility three to five times a week to give 'Know Your Rights' presentations to people who are detained and don't have an attorney. Randall said the organization can still do them if they cover their own costs and ask for permission to enter the facility to do the presentations, but there's no longer a contract funding the work.
Twelve nonprofit organizations that operate the programs have joined a lawsuit suing the U.S. government to restart funding, but a motion for a temporary restraining order was denied April 15 by U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss in Washington, D.C.
In a sworn declaration, Vanessa Gutierrez, a deputy director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said more than 200 people were in need of intakes due to the 'dramatic' increase in the number of people detained at the facility.
Gutierrez said the loss of funding means the organization can't continue the Know Your Rights presentations at the same scale, and many unrepresented people will go into immigration court with little to no knowledge of what to expect or what forms of relief they might be eligible for.
'This will certainly only further delay the courts ability to adjudicate cases and protect individuals' due process rights,' Gutierrez said in the declaration.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
27 minutes ago
- NBC News
Texas House passes new congressional maps
The Texas House has approved new GOP-drawn maps that could give Republicans up to five more seats in Congress, despite Democrats' efforts to block the plan.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jasmine Crockett says she's not paid enough to buy new home in redrawn Texas district
'As a single woman who has one income, who's not allowed to make outside income, there's a lot to be had there,' the Texas U.S. congresswoman shared. U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett has much to think about as Texas Republicans prepare to approve a new congressional map that would significantly impact her district. During a recent interview with CBS News, Crockett shared she is considering running in a different district next year after Texas Republicans redrew a map that puts her residence outside her 30th Congressional District. Crockett will have to decide whether to run for office in the neighboring 33rd Congressional District or potentially find a new home. However, the latter option is not an ideal one for Crockett. 'As a single woman who has one income, who's not allowed to make outside income, there's a lot to be had there,' Crockett said about her decision-making process. 'The idea of actually buying a new home…We don't get enough money. I mean, I'm being honest, and I know that some people may take issue with that, because they talk about how much money we make, and I get it. It's not that we're obviously getting minimum wage,' the Texas congresswoman explained. 'It's a matter of do you sell your home, then go somewhere else and get a higher interest rate.' Crockett shared that the current mortgage interest rate is 3%. According to Freddie Mac, the average national interest rate is more than 6%. A major part of Crockett's decision will depend on how her constituents feel about her potentially living outside of her district. She explained that, unlike state legislators, members of Congress are not required to live within district lines. However, Congresswoman Crockett said her campaign will conduct polling to learn more about the new 200,000 voters in her redrawn 30th Congressional District, and whether they prefer a representative who lives there. Crockett said her decision is not being taken lightly, reiterating, 'They don't pay me enough to go and buy another home.' The annual salary for members of the United States Congress is $174,000. Despite the reality of having her district and others represented by Democrats, Crockett said the redistricting plan is clear racial discrimination, as the districts targeted have majority Black and Latino populations. 'These have to be some of the most obviously racially gerrymandered and terrible lines that I've ever seen in the state of Texas,' she told CBS. 'Why is it that you continue to try to dilute their voices and don't want them to be heard? She added, 'It is about making sure in the state that has more African-Americans than any other state, that they are not left with their voices only amounting to one-fifth the strength of their Caucasian counterparts.' More must-reads: Trump deputy Stephen Miller says DC crackdown is for the 'safety' of Black residents. These residents say it's causing more harm Kamala Harris calls Texas Rep. Nicole Collier during Capitol confinement: 'We are all there with you' Before his slavery remark, in 2017 Trump praised the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Here's what he said Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why Shake Shack, Sweetgreen and Cava are flashing warning lights for the US economy
As President Donald Trump's aggressive policies on international trade and immigration gradually begin to make their presence felt, the underwhelming recent earnings results reported by some key casual food businesses are serving as flashing warning lights for the U.S. economy. Shake Shack shares tumbled 7.7 percent in response to its second-quarter results, despite their being generally positive. In comparison, Sweetgreen shares dropped 23 percent after it cut its 2025 outlook for the second consecutive quarter, and Cava's quarterly revenue disappointed estimates because of weaker-than-expected sales growth. Bloomberg columnist Connor Sen has argued that the headwinds being faced by those brands are uniquely significant because their restaurants are more likely to be based in metropolitan centers along the west and east coasts of the United States, which are likely to bear the brunt of the president's policies first. Shake Shack, for instance, has 80 of its 610 U.S. locations in New York, while one-third of Sweetgreen's branches are in New York and California, and Cava is based in D.C., which, along with Maryland and Virginia, accounts for 17 percent of its business, according to Bloomberg. Their exposure to 'critical coastal metro areas that are immigration hubs and popular international tourism destinations' contrasts with rival eateries such as Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, and Texas Roadhouse, which more typically cater to middle American diners across a wider geographic spread and have not yet suffered an equivalent financial setback. Sen points out that New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco – three of America's biggest cities, all coastal and Democrat-governed – suffered a combined 43,000 job losses in the first six months of the year, a period when the U.S. as a whole added 500,000. Over the same half-year stretch, those three locations plus Washington, D.C, saw a combined reduction in their workforces of 60,000 people, after experiencing a 160,000 increase in 2024, a phenomenon that might very reasonably be attributed to Trump's immigration crackdown. Meanwhile, New York City Tourism + Conventions has said it expects to see a 17 percent fall in international visitors this year, and Visit California is forecasting a 9.2 percent fall in arrivals, as travellers from overseas register their disapproval of Trump's administration by vacationing elsewhere. Those factors conspire to leave businesses dependent on America's coastal cities facing a smaller pool of potential customers. Furthermore, those who remain appear to be less likely to spend their disposable income, meaning a reduced likelihood of their treating themselves to a meal out. The latter point is made by a preliminary study of consumer sentiment carried out by the University of Michigan, which found left-leaning voters much less likely to spend freely in August than their Republican counterparts. While economists might traditionally look at the stock market or the unemployment rate to gauge the health of a nation's bank balance, the well-being of brands like Shake Shack, Sweetgreen, and Cava can be equally revealing, primarily by exposing regional disparities. Other surprisingly telling indicators of an economic downturn or coming recession might include declining sales of men's underwear, reduced sales of inessential goods like snacks and cigarettes in grocery stores, or, conversely, a rise in the sales of miniature bottles of alcohol, which might signal increased consumer stress. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
