DETROIT - The ACLU of Michigan opposes today’s reopening of North Lake Correctional Facility (NLCF), an 1,800-bed immigrant detention center in Baldwin, Michigan. NLCF is the largest immigrant detention facility in the Midwest, and is owned and operated by the GEO Group, which has a documented history of neglecting and abusing the people it detains and employs. GEO facilities also have repeated practices of denying detained immigrants access to attorneys.
Medical neglect and poor conditions are common in detention centers like North Lake, including lack of clean facilities, limited food supplies, and physical and sexual abuse. When the facility was last open, six reported hunger strikes were organized, “primarily led by Black immigrants demanding medical care, better food, and an end to discriminatory confinement in the Restricted Housing Unit.” Reports have also shown a tendency to exploit and cut corners, such as forcing those detained to clean the facility for as low as $1 per day.
Reportedly, the GEO Group signed a $1 billion, 15-year contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this year to house immigrants as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy.
“The re-opening of this massive detention center is a major threat to our immigrant friends and neighbors throughout Michigan and the Midwest,” said Loren Khogali, ACLU of Michigan executive director. “This facility places them in further danger of the Trump administration’s cruel and xenophobic mass detention and deportation agenda. We are deeply concerned that along with the GEO Group’s documented history of inhumane treatment of people detained, that those held at North Lake also may be denied access to legal counsel and will be unable to challenge their detention and deportation orders, a violation of their due process rights. This is especially troubling given the Trump administration’s track record of violating the due process rights of immigrants detained throughout the nation. We will continue to fight to protect the rights of all people. We call on our local and state leaders to join us in demanding accountability and transparency in the operation of this facility.”
Members of Congress have the legal right to visit immigration detention facilities without prior notice, in order to conduct vital oversight. We call on Michigan’s Congressional delegation to use their oversight authority to promote transparency and guard against human rights abuses in the North Lake Correctional Facility.
North Lake must:
- Ensure compliance with ICE detention standards that require the provision of appropriate interpretation and language services for medical and mental health care, including during appointments, sick call, treatment, and consultation.
- Provide a manner for people in ICE custody at North Lake to have free, private, and confidential correspondence with their attorney or with a potential attorney.
- Ensure that legal mail is promptly sent and delivered, and is opened only in the presence of the detainee.
- Provide access to a chaplain and to pastoral care and counseling appropriate for each detained immigrant’s religion, and ensure that they are able to practice their religion (for example, Muslims should be allowed out of their cells for prayers).
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