CRCL Retention Memo to ICE Concerning South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas

CRCL received 19 allegations that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had violated the civil rights and civil liberties of noncitizens at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas. Many of the allegations involved two distinct and related areas, the grievance process and staff-detainee communication. Accordingly, of the 19, CRCL opened five complaints for investigation focused on those topics. Specifically, the complaints allege difficulties communicating with facility staff and ICE officials; language access barriers to communicating with ICE officials; that facility staff are not responsive to informal grievances; and that noncitizens are either not able to file formal grievances or do not receive adequate responses to grievances that are filed.