Ranking Member Jayapal Demands Answers on the Expansion of Immigration Detention in WA

SEATTLE, WA - U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, is demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding a Presolicitation Notice posted on an official government contracting site to create a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Seattle.

"ICE's Northwest Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, already has capacity for 1,600 detention beds and is one of the largest facilities in the country," wrote the Members. "That facility has been plagued by ongoing concerns related to substandard conditions. Just last month, multiple members of the Washington delegation noted deteriorating conditions, specifically mounting concerns about access to legal counsel and medical care."

The Northwest Processing Center has a brazen record of violating agency policy by shackling a pregnant woman, denying adequate medical care to detained persons, and blocking detained persons from accessing legal counsel. There has been no evidence that the surge of ICE funding has contributed in any way to addressing these consistent issues.

In the United States, there are an unprecedented number of immigrants detained at for-profit facilities across the country, many of whom have reported inedible food and insufficient medical care. This is as 38 people have died in custody since Trump returned to office, and there have been unanswered questions about discrepancies between Congressional death notices and autopsies regarding cause of death.

The full text of the letter can be read here.

The letter was also signed by Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Janelle Bynum (OR-05), Suzan K. DelBene (WA-01), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Rick Larsen (WA-02), Emily Randall (WA-06), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Kim Schrier (WA-08), Adam Smith (WA-09), and Marilyn Strickland (WA-10).

Issues: Immigration