Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story.
Mukta Joshi is an investigative reporter at Mississippi Today. She is spending a year as a New York Times Local Investigations fellow examining immigration and criminal justice issues. She can be reached at mukta.joshi@nytimes.com.
Under federal law, members of Congress have the right to make unannounced visits to ICE detention centers, where more than 60,000 people are currently being held. In June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement restricted the visits, requiring a seven-day notice, and a dozen Democratic representatives sued the Trump administration. A federal judge ruled in their favor in December, paving the way for lawmakers to inspect the facilities.
On April 9, Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi and one of the lawmakers who sued the administration, visited the Adams County Correctional Center outside of Natchez. The facility, the second largest ICE detention center in the country when full, is in Rep. Thompson’s district. He said he wanted to talk to people being detained there, look into complaints about the living conditions and try to learn more about a reported suicide by one of the detainees late last year. I talked to him a few days after his visit.
Here are excerpts from our conversation, lightly edited for clarity and length.
Could you tell me a little bit about your decision to visit and inspect the facility?
There have been complaints from attorneys about not being able to talk to their clients. There have been complaints about hearings not being held like they should have been. Complaints about inmates not getting access to proper clothing. So we wanted to look at it, and we went down and met the warden, along with an ICE representative who oversees several facilities like that. We looked at the infirmary; we looked at the housing. We talked about food, we talked about health care, we talked about how inmates are processed and all of those things. And obviously, when you expect somebody, you put your best foot forward, right? The place was clean. I had an opportunity to talk with about 50 inmates in an open setting.
And it’s probably a facility for around 2,500 people. They had about 1,400 on the day we were there.
When you met with them, you said it was in an open setting. So does that mean that you were able to have confidential conversations, or were there guards or administration around?
Well, there were people around, but, you know, I didn’t get any hesitancy from any of the inmates. They talked about having difficulty with ICE processing, their current status. That was a big thing. I got no complaints from being mistreated, per se. Anything that I asked, I got an answer. I had brought my own interpreter. We had people there from Russia, China, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Sudan, obviously, anything in South America. From the people we talked to, it was a broad representation of the immigrant population trying to come to this country.
Could you tell me a little bit more about the process of your visit? Like, how many people accompanied you? And did you go from unit to unit, or did your team take photographs?
Well, you can’t take a camera.
Not even you?
No. I had to take my shoes off. Had to take my belt off. I was able to put them back on after screening, but yeah, I was told nobody comes in, even employees, without being fully screened.
Did you try to ask if you could take photographs?
No. I mean, I didn’t. You know, my phone was left in the vehicle.
And once you went inside, the 50 detainees who volunteered to meet with you, were they all together and they came forward?
They came together and we talked. Now, I was told that some 300 wanted to talk. That would have been, I mean, just, we couldn’t. I wasn’t in a position to handle that many people, three staffers with me and myself.
What was the location where you met these 50 detainees?
It was in an auditorium-like facility, you know, they were brought in. It was an open room – large enough to accommodate more people than that, but it was about 50.
At any point, did you go from unit to unit to see what the living conditions look like?
Yes, I went to several units. For the most part, you know, open dormitory style, bunk beds, the shower facilities in the rear of the room. You know, they all look just alike. That’s what I saw.
Could you talk a little bit more about what you saw, in terms of the hygiene conditions? You mentioned earlier that the facility seemed clean.
There’s no question that, me coming, the place was clean. You know, I did not ask anybody, “How did it look any other time?” I talked to several other people who worked there, and they were, I mean, it’s a job with benefits. So they saw it as an opportunity to work close to home.
Were you able to speak to any of the guards there?
Just casual conversation. I was basically there to look at the facility, to talk about the recent death and address some of the complaints that had gotten up to my office. And again, like I said, on the suicide, ICE had basically said it’s under investigation and that they would have a final report soon now. But that was kind of expected. I don’t know if there’s a coroner’s report from the county on that. You might get that. I would encourage you to do that.
You mentioned that the capacity of the place is about 2,500 but the day that you were there, there were about 1,400. Do you know why that might be? Have you heard anything about that?
I have not. You know, for the most part, we kind of thought that a lot of the people were being moved from that facility to Alexandria, which is the airport that they use. Alexandria, Louisiana. Basically when they leave there, they go to Alexandria, and that’s the last stop on the deportation route. You see what I’m saying? That’s where they depart from.
The things that you saw in Adams, would you say they were similar or different from what you’ve been seeing or hearing nationally?
Generally, we only hear a lot of complaints. A lot of complaints. Just with that three-and-a-half-hour visit, it’s kind of hard to boil down beyond what you’re being told. So my visit won’t be my last visit. I will do an unannounced visit just to see. Letting them know was not a problem, but I would have no hesitation or reservation about another visit unannounced.
Did anything at all that you saw there concern you at all? Like, when you went to the kitchen, what did you see? What were the bathrooms like?
The bathrooms were clean, the kitchen was clean, the commissary was clean. I went through the entire infirmary, talked to the staff, asked them about the process when people come in: If people have pre-existing conditions, are they treated versus people who don’t have any? If a person says, I’m sick, how long does it take for that person to at minimum see a nurse? You know, they have nurse practitioners on staff, and doctors come. They say they have two doctors. They have more nurse practitioners. So, without having a complaint on a particular thing, I asked about a dental complaint that I had, and they said, you know, like root canals and those kinds of things, they have to send out for. Other things that can be addressed with antibiotics or something like that, they can do in house.
Last week, when I was interacting with the spokesperson for CoreCivic, the prison operator, about the suicide incident that happened in December, I had some questions about the sort of mental health care and health care in general that’s available at the facility. The spokesperson said that the onsite medical clinic is staffed by licensed health care professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health counselors and dentists. And I’ve heard consistently from other detainees, and including you now, that there are two doctors there. So does CoreCivic’s statement match with what you saw?
I saw two mental health officers. I did not talk to a mental health person there, but I was told they were available. I did not see any doctors, although I was told they are there. I met with the head person, who’s a nurse administrator, but I think the primary contact is with the nurse practitioner. Obviously, if it’s something more serious, I would assume that it’s referred to the doctor.
So they told you that for dental procedures, people are sent outside. But did they mention that there was a dentist who was on site?
Yes.
OK, but they weren’t there when you were there?
No, they weren’t there.
Do you have any last thoughts before we get off the call?
No. But if you got any questions about what was seen and what was told, just put it on to me and I’ll get it answered.
Note to our readers: If you know something about the detention center, if you know someone who works there or is detained there, or want me to find out something about it for readers, please get in touch.
I will not use your name or any part of your submission without contacting you first. If you prefer to get in touch with me anonymously, send me a message on Signal @mmj.2178. Or you can contact me via email at mukta.joshi@nytimes.com.
Our mailing address is P.O. Box 12267, Jackson, MS 39236.
