Why we don't want a superjail

By Carlos Villarreal

Several Texas organizations have joined forces to form the STOPP (South Texans Opposing Private Prisons) Coalition in opposition of a proposed 2,800-bed superjail that the U.S. Marshals want built within 50 miles of the new federal courthouse in Laredo.
The Coalition continues to grow, and at the present time organizations that have signed on to the statement below include the Central Labor Council of Webb County, Centro Aztlan, Texas Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, Texas Civil Rights Project, Grassroots Leadership Texas, the Texas ACLU Prison and Jail Accountability Project, Students for Democracy, and Voices in Democratic Action (VIDA):
We the undersigned are opposed to the building of a so-called "superjail" for immigrant detention in South Texas for the following reasons:
o The U.S. Marshals Service wants to build a facility with 2,800 beds, which would be the largest private prison in the nation. A Wackenhut official recently told Webb County Commissioners that they had one larger facility, and it was in South Africa. This nation already has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It is time for us to stop building more prisons and begin examining the tough-on-crime policies that dominated the last quarter of the previous century. We should be putting our resources toward education, healthcare, and other beneficial programs, rather than locking up human beings by the millions.
o While we don't want to see a new facility with thousands of new beds, we also recognize that the current system, which houses federal detainees in various facilities and county jails, is full of problems, is notorious for poor treatment, and limits the abilities of advocates to communicate with inmates.
o This facility would likely be a private facility, and we don't believe private companies should be making money off of crime and human suffering. Ultimately a private prison is profitable because of the money per head a prison earns from the government for housing its prisoners -- in other words, they benefit from public tax dollars with promises of efficiency. But these private prisons actually take a lot of those tax dollars to line the pockets of company executives, shareholders, and lobbyists, while cutting costs as much as possible.
o Private prisons become dependent on a steady stream of inmates -- their profits are dependent on harsh penalties. As these companies become more profitable and more powerful, they create a force that is constantly opposing reductions in sentences while opposing more sensible policies that might be better for our communities but not for their bottom lines.
o Private prisons cut costs in numerous detrimental ways. These companies have a horrible record on safety, proper training, inmate care, and meeting basic constitutional standards. Jobs at the prison will NOT be federal jobs and private prison companies are notorious for paying low wages. There are also numerous examples of problems with guards abusing inmates, inmate-on-inmate violence, and inmate escapes at facilities run by private companies like Wackenhut.
o This facility would mostly lock up non-violent immigrants. Immigrants held for deportation are the fastest-growing group of prisoners in the nation, and within the past few years the federal government has been outpacing states in prison building -- mostly by restricting judicial discretion, mandating that U.S. Attorneys seek harsh penalties, criminalizing more conduct, and locking up more and more nonviolent offenders. We must take a stand locally against the manifestations of these devastating policies from Washington.
o This facility would not provide Laredo with economic development. Although Webb County Judge Louis Bruni stated in the San Antonio Express-News that "[the facility] would be a tremendous gain," there is little proof to back this up. Prisons are an unstable and unwise form of economic development. The facility itself will require infrastructure, such as water, electricity, and roads, and there may be an increased need for law enforcement and emergency services -- none of which will be provided by the private company or the federal government. Additionally, municipalities that decide to put their eggs in the prison basket often become known as prison towns, and other types of development could be negatively affected. Finally if the prison isn't profitable, the county involved could be forced to default on any bonds issued which would hurt its chances at future investment for more sound economic development.
For all of these reasons, we ask that all elected officials -- whether from Webb County, La Salle County, or elsewhere -- do whatever they can to stop this prison from being built in our community.
We ask that all elected officials who support this facility make their dealings transparent so that they remain fully accountable to the people affected by this prison expansion.
We call on the U.S. Marshals to take responsibility for improving the current situation without building more beds, and we ask that the Federal prosecutors spend less time prosecuting nonviolent immigration violators and more time investigating the conduct of the public officials overseeing facilities where federal inmates are currently held.
We ask that our U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators investigate the needs driving this prison expansion and call for a moratorium on federal prison expansion in Texas until their constituents have heard the facts.
And finally, we call on the federal government to stop utilizing private companies to build and operate their detention facilities -- if there really is a need for additional beds, our government should make the commitment to build those beds itself.

(Carlos Villarreal is member of the Texas Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, which can be reached at (512) 507-7700.)