TACOMA, Wash. — A new report from the University of Washington provides more detail on "use-of-force" incidents at a Tacoma Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.
Three major areas of concern were outlined by the UW Center for Human Rights (UWCHR): the use of force against people with mental illness; the use of force against people engaged in nonviolent protests or hunger strikes; and the facility’s failure to follow its own rules.
The Northwest Detention Center (NWDC), which is operated by ICE and the private corporation GEO Group, used a variety of methods detailed in the UWCHR report.
One example involved a 26-year-old man having chemical agents used against him three times over refusing to exit his cell.
Another incident involved a 22-year-old man who was “on mental health decompensation watch” and banging his tray against a window. A GEO officer placed a forearm on the man's neck and performed a manual "takedown," which caused the man's head and back to hit the bed frame and wall of his cell.
Several other individuals who never were formally diagnosed with mental health conditions were subjected to repeated use of force at the NWDC. One person experienced 13 uses of force over a three-month period, including six that involved chemical agents.
A former child refugee from Sudan was also subjected to seven uses of force. One incident included witnesses saying a GEO officer placed his knee on the neck of the inmate, prompting other inmates to shout "Black Lives Matter" and "Get your knee off his neck," according to ICE records cited in the report.
A 26-year-old woman was subjected to force-feeding after she initiated a hunger strike, which is a constitutionally-protected form of free speech under the First Amendment. The method used to force-feed the woman is unclear given redactions on the official documents, but whatever procedure was used caused the woman to "voluntarily" end her hunger strike midway through the incident. UWCHR says NWDC has been known to "forcibly insert nasogastric tubes, PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) lines, or urinary catheterization through the urethra to force-feed detained people," according to the report.
UWCHR also details issues like underreporting of use-of-force incidents at times over the seven-year period it analyzed, denial of medical attention and unauthorized or excessive uses of force.
The UWCHR report authors, as well as representatives from La Resistencia and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, will be holding a press conference Wednesday just outside the NWDC in Tacoma to present the findings and testimonies of people who witnessed or experienced these incidents in the facility.
KING 5 reached out to the NWDC for comment and has not heard back yet.
Maru Villalpando of La Resistencia said the report is a good step, but just a step.
“There’s still a lot of work to do in our communities,” she said. “People think that it’s still OK to cage people. Most people I think would agree that it’s not right to cage an elephant or a dog. We love our pets. Yet, are we OK with caging human beings, especially for profit?”
Although Villalpando said she appreciates the university's work, she's concerned that if it wasn't for the university's involvement, people may not take this seriously.
“We have to do extra work to be believed.” Villalpando said. “It takes a lot of work on our end as a grassroots, volunteer organization with a very thin budget to be able to do this. We don’t have more members here because they’re working … It is worrisome that our society still questions those that are the experts of our own oppression.”