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Make sure they’re treated properly

Concerning Garfield County’s decision to lease jail space to the federal government to house Bureau of Immigration Enforcement “detainees,” as well as federal plans to build a new “processing center” nearby: Despite the euphemisms, federal processing centers are prisons, and detainees are inmates.

More important, area residents should understand that the federal immigration service – formerly the INS – has a long history of isolating its inmates from legal assistance, of mistreating them and of retaliating against them when the prisoners ask for help.

County commissioners should contact local immigration advocacy groups to insist on regular monitoring of the jail conditions in which the new inmates are held. This is the least they can do, considering the revenue benefits they will receive.



Mark Dow

Aspen and Brooklyn