>> A memo obtained from TYT investigates indicates, that there have been multiple deaths of detainees
in ICE custody, that could have been prevented, but were not prevented due to neglect.
Now this was reported by Ken Klippenstein, please check out the full story because it
has some incredible details.
He does great work here.
>> Yeah.
>> And what he found was that ICE's Health Services Corps is severely dysfunctional and
unfortunately preventable harm and death to detainees has occurred, that's according to
the document.
This was a memo that was written by an ICE supervisor.
And it was given to his higher up, his or her, we don't know the identity of this person.
They came forward anonymously, anyway, the ICE supervisor who was notified about this
was Matthew Albence.
And apparently, Matthew Albence didn't really care too much about the issues that were listed
in the memo.
The memo obtained by TYT, bearing the subject line Urgent Matter, details over a dozen cases
in which ICE allegedly failed to provide its detainees with proper medical care, including
two which resulted in fatalities.
Now we've been covering the majority of fatalities that have occurred under the Trump administration.
And it seems to be getting worse.
Of course, the administration and border protection officials get very defensive.
They say that they've done everything right.
But again, these documents indicate that that's not the case.
And this isn't the first ICE employee who's come forward.
There's also Ellen Gallagher, who actually came forward and spoke to NBC about what she
witnessed, including detainees being placed in solitary confinement.
Take a look.
>> We have created and continue to support a system that involves widespread abuse of
human beings.
>> ICE's policy states that detainees should be segregated only after careful consideration
of alternatives.
>> Solitary confinement was being used as the first resort, not the last resort.
And sometimes it was the only approach.
>> So we have some specific details of what happened to some of these detainees.
But I want to get your thoughts on it.
>> Well, this is one of those jaw dropping stories that's become kind of like ambient
noise in a way.
That we've just kind of accepted it and have gotten used to it.
But it's the kind of thing that if you saw this reported in a foreign country, for example,
we'd be completely outraged and we'd want to do something about it.
But because it's us and because we've just semi-accepted it, it feels like it's so dispiriting
because you don't feel that there's going to be the kind of reaction that an unbelievable
story like this would require.
>> There have been stories of minors in custody who have been sexually assaulted, who have
been victimized, these stories aren't rare.
>> Yeah there was, I saw a report that there was in El Paso detention center where they
were holding 900 people in a space that should only hold like 125 people.
Some of the inmates were climbing up onto the toilet just so that they could get a breath
of air.
>> Jesus.
>> Because it was so crowded in there that they literally couldn't breathe.
It's the gulags, it's like all the stuff that we find horrifying in other countries, it's
happening right here today.
And it's absolutely horrifying.
>> First of all, congratulations to Ken Klippenstein for getting this story out.
One thing that I would say is actually there are three detention centers that are mentioned
in this piece, Eloy, Stuart Detention Center, and Florence Correctional Center, those are
all private prison operated.
Those are all operated by CoreCivic, which is one of the two largest private prison companies
in America.
And what we know is that something like two thirds of all migrant detainees sleep in beds
that are managed by the private prison system.
And privatization I think is a core part of this story.
Because when you have this outsourcing to a private contractor, the way they make their
money, they lower labor costs, they cut medical costs, they cut whatever they can to get their
layer of profit up.
And that, obviously, has these tragic consequences.
So ICE can't really function without these private companies.
And to the extent that there has been pushback, it's been from activists who have gone directly
after these private corporations.
>> Yeah.
>> For collaborating with ICE.
>> And these private prisons have been terrible when it comes to US citizens who are detained
in their prisons and facilities.
And there's no doubt that they're going to be just as terrible or worse when it comes
to undocumented immigrants.
I also want to just quickly note that these two major private prison companies, there's
GEO Group and CoreCivic, they donated a considerable amount of money to Donald Trump.
Because of his rhetoric on immigration, knew that that was an opportunity to cash in.
And as soon as he got elected, their stock value just skyrocketed.
>> It soared.
They hired former aides to Jeff Sessions to lobby for them.
They funded the inauguration.
>> That's right.
>> At the end of 2016, the government, the Obama administration, was actually pulling
out, not of the immigration facilities, but federal prisons.
They were trying to stop privatization of federal prisons.
That policy was reversed.
So this has been a real priority of the Trump Administration, to bring the private prison
industry out of really a tailspin.
And there is great work, I have written about this in these times.
Great work being done by activists going after not just these private prison companies, but
the companies that finance them, the banks.
>> I love that.
>> Yes, because the way that these particular companies operate, there is no way for them
to continue without consistent financing.
They have to buy properties, they have to finance their ongoing operations.
And after a hearing with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the House financial services committee, J.P.
Morgan, said that they would no longer bank with the private prison industry.
Wells Fargo has pulled out, US Bank has pulled out.
So there is some pressure being put not just on these companies, but on the financial sort
of backstory behind these companies.
>> It's incredible what can get accomplished when you have someone who's fighting for the
right things.
Because I mean, she didn't have to do too much when it came to fighting back against
these prisons.
But you mentioned the private financing which, of course, does happen.
But where do they get the majority of their profit from?
>> Well, of course, it's the federal government.
And in this case, it's ICE.
I don't remember the exact numbers, but it's in the billions of dollars what they've received
from both ICE and DHS more generally.
>> Exactly, so I want to just quickly outline a few of these specific cases that Ken Klippenstein
put in his piece because it gives you a sense of just how bad the neglect has been.
So for instance, suicide victim Efrain De La Rosa could be saved, the memo says of the
victim.
The document goes on to state that ICE received a total of 12 significant event notifications
prior to his death, depicting suicidal ideation and psychosis.
Moreover Mr. De La Rosa was not being treated with psychotropic medication, instead, he
was remanded to segregation.
De La Rosa's suicide closely mirrors the previous suicide of Joseph Jimenez at Stewart Detention
Center.
So unfortunately, he did commit suicide and it could have been prevented.
He wasn't given the drugs that he needed.
There were warnings, but nothing was done.
Another case reference in the documents involves a detainee identified as a suicide risk having
been prescribed an anti-histamine at the Stewart Detention Center because Benadryl will help
you out.
>> Yeah.
>> Right, in yet another case a detainee was removed from respiratory isolation despite
having tuberculosis potentially putting other detainees at risk for infection.
>> Another part of this is that when you have a facility run by a CoreCivic, they are not
prescribing the medical services.
They are subcontracting that out to another company.
>> And usually it's one of a few companies.
Corizon is a big one.
Then there's another one, that the name's escaping me.
But you have contracts upon contracts upon contracts.
And that does a couple things.
Number one, obviously each layer of profit has to come in on each private company that's
doing that.
And number two, it really hurts transparency.
>> Yeah.
>> Because the subcontracting relationship does not have to be disclosed.
Because that's not a direct contract with the federal government.
So if CCA and Corizon have a relationship with one another, we can't see into that contract.
We can't see what's going on.
Sometimes we can't get this kind of information unless there's great journalism that actually
pulls it out.
>> Absolutely.
>> And I think it's worth pointing out, you talk about these companies and they sound
like cartoon villains.
And they largely are, but it's important to understand that it is basically, fundamentally
impossible for there to be a good private prison company.
>> Right.
>> Like an ethical private prison company because the profit pressures are so great
that if you try to be a good private prison company, imagine if you wanted to start one
and your backyard.
>> This isn't the show you should be watching.
>> You would eventually find competition from some other private prison company that's going
to be more evil than you, then they're going to get all the contracts.
The issue is privatization itself.
You just can not tolerate the privatization of things like prisons, of things like healthcare.
>> Exactly.
>> Things like fire departments or police departments or anything like that.
Those are things that are absolutely, in the, should be a public responsibility and therefore
run by some sort of government.
>> Yeah, there shouldn't be a profit motive in putting people behind bars and there is
and it's impacted Americans.
And it doesn't really seem like anyone really cares.
And now it's impacting these migrants and they're dying as a result of that and of course
the response to it has been incredibly lame, for lack of a better word.