‘Inhumane’ conditions at Plymouth jail used by ICE

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey are calling out “inhumane conditions” advocates say have persisted at the only correctional facility in Massachusetts that houses people detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

The Plymouth County Correctional Facility, managed by the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department, is the last facility in the state contracted to detain people for ICE — a contract that expired on July 31. Similar contracts were previously terminated in Bristol and Franklin counties in 2021. 

“We ask ICE to consider whether continuation of the contract is appropriate, and if the contract is renewed, to implement stronger guardrails to ensure that, at a minimum, the facility’s conditions comply with established detention standards and civil rights,” the senators wrote in a letter addressed to Homeland Security officials Thursday.

Despite the senators’ efforts in 2022 and a subsequent investigation by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, advocates are still reporting problems including poor medical care, limited access to language interpretation services, and the use of force and retaliation from officers. 

“In the two years since CRCL issued its findings, PCCF’s substandard conditions have persisted, including deficiencies in medical care, the punitive use of solitary confinement, and restricted communication with legal counsel and family members,” Warren and Markey wrote.

Warren and Markey referenced the advocates’ complaint submitted to Campbell’s office last Thursday, which outlined multiple civil rights violations at PCCF including continued communications challenges.

The group of advocates including Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network and the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical program requested an investigation into the facility in March 2023. Since then, ICE expanded Plymouth’s detention capacity from 240 to 360 immigrants, according to the complaint, and continued prohibitions on phones for detainees.

“By restricting phone access and making other forms of communication prohibitively expensive, Plymouth erects barriers that systematically deprive immigrants of access to counsel and the right to seek immigration relief,” Tiffany Lieu, clinical instructor with the HIRCP, said in a statement.

The advocates also allege “frequent abuse” of solitary confinement, a lack of language interpretation for medical and legal needs, essentially raw and rotten food, inadequate heating, inaccessible facilities for disabled people, and religious and LGBTQ discrimination.

The Attorney General’s Office did not return a request for comment Sunday, but according to the HIRC, the Attorney General’s Office is reviewing the conditions at Plymouth following their March complaint.

The senators asked DHS to report by Aug. 22 if PCCF’s contract will be renewed, concrete steps to address problems identified by the 2022 investigation, to describe PCCF’s policy on providing language interpretation, and more. 

“DHS must do more to tackle these problems if it chooses to renew its PCCF contract,” they wrote. “DHS should also work with Plymouth County to ensure that correctional staff are held accountable for physical and verbal abuse, discriminatory behavior, and other serious violations of protocols.”

Boston’s ICE office and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department did not return a request for comment Sunday evening.

The senators’ letter is here in full.