BERLIN, N.H. – The Federal Bureau of Prisons’ leaked plan to convert a prison in Berlin to house immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sparked outrage and concern from the New Hampshire Immigrants’ Rights Network on how the facility could be used to fuel President Trump’s mass deportation agenda. In response, the ACLU of New Hampshire filed a Freedom of Information Act request today seeking more information on the use of this facility to hold people in ICE custody, including asking for policy memoranda, detention standards, contracts, and other documents.
“This proposal means that immigrants facing civil – not criminal – charges would be sent to a medium-security federal prison in one of the northernmost cities in the entire state, isolated from their family, advocates, and potential legal services,” said Amanda Azad, Policy Director at the ACLU of New Hampshire. “We have strong concerns about the conditions that would exist for hundreds of these immigrants, how they would be treated in this prison, and we refuse to stand by and allow this cruelty in our state.”
According to the LA Times, more than 500 detainees could be held at the prison facility.
As part of its processing and removal operations, ICE detains people who are noncitizens, often for prolonged periods of time stretching weeks, months, and years. People being detained are then transferred between facilities hastily and with no regard for the lives of those detained. A lack of humane conditions and civil rights violations have historically plagued immigration detention centers across the country.
In addition to being just one of five facilities in the country being considered, FCI Berlin’s remote location at 119 miles north of Concord or 187 miles north of Boston would create clear logistical concerns. According to the leaked memo, the Bureau of Prisons states that FCI Berlin would take a “substantial amount of preparation and resources…including but not limited to additional funding for staffing, food, utilities, clothing, training and other necessary items.”
Families including children may be prevented from visiting their loved ones in this location, along with logistical concerns regarding accessing legal services and the ability of attorneys to meet with clients.
Additional members of the New Hampshire Immigrants’ Rights Network signing onto this message include:
- Eva Castillo, Director, NH Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees
- Grace Kindeke and Maggie Fogarty, American Friends Service Committee
- David Holt, Manager, Welcoming NH
- Sarah Jane Knoy, Executive Director, Granite State Organizing Project
- Christine Wellington
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