Community groups press lawmakers to end ICE contracts at Wyatt Detention Center; committee holds bill

Dozens of community members and advocacy groups testified April 3 in favor of Senate Bill 295, a measure sponsored by Sen. Acosta that would prohibit municipalities from using state or local resources to house people detained for federal civil immigration violations and would require the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls to end its ICE contract.

Speakers brought dozens of recent first‑hand accounts and organizational reports alleging medical neglect, unsanitary conditions, restricted legal access and punitive limitations on phone and commissary access for people detained at the Wyatt. Volunteers with the AMOR support network and other community organizations summarized reports received in March 2025 documenting complaints about lack of medical care, denied medications, limited access to legal services and expensive communication fees. "Many of us do not have help while we're here because our families barely have enough as it is," one translated message from a detained person read during testimony.

Advocates said the Wyatt’s operating model — a local corporation that owns or operates the site and contracts with federal agencies — creates a perverse incentive to keep beds filled and that municipal arrangements have not delivered promised local economic benefits. Witnesses argued that the facility has not paid consistent payments to the city and that COVID-era federal relief funds benefited the facility in ways that did not help the surrounding community.

Supporters referenced laws passed in other states and urged Rhode Island to adopt a similar prohibition to prevent private-profit immigration detention. They noted operational language in the federal contracts (U.S. Marshals Service/ICE riders) about termination windows and suggested a one‑year sunset would be feasible; witnesses asked the committee to reconcile date discrepancies between bills in the Senate and House.

No municipal officials appeared to testify in favor of the facility’s contracts during the hearing. The committee heard both individual testimony from former detainees and many community organizations and volunteers who said conditions at the Wyatt were unacceptable and urged action.

After hours of testimony the committee voted to hold SB 295 for further study. Members said they would accept written materials and federal contract excerpts and indicated they would consider alternatives such as a sunsetting requirement while reviewing constitutional and procurement issues raised in some written testimony.

Ending: The committee held the bill for additional review and requested written evidence, including copies of federal contracts and any city financial records that bear on the Wyatt facility agreement.