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Advocates urge end to CoreCivic/ICE contract; commissioner reports mixed impressions after unannounced tour
Summary
Advocates from Innovation Law Lab told the Torrance County Commission that detainees at the Torrance County Detention Facility face medical neglect, limited law‑library access and overcrowding; Commissioner Linda Jaramillo described a surprise tour that found clean facilities but acknowledged advocates' continuing allegations.
Advocates from Innovation Law Lab pressed the Torrance County Board of Commissioners during public comment to end the county's contract with CoreCivic and ICE, saying they have documented repeated problems at the Torrance County Detention Facility (TCDF). Ian Philabaum, identifying himself as a representative of Innovation Law Lab, said the group has attended commission meetings for a year and "shared medical reports from medical professionals detailing neglect and abuse that have been documented from speaking directly to people detained in TCDF." He urged commissioners to act to improve conditions and compliance.
A colleague read a verbatim complaint from a detained person who said, "We don't have access to the library. ... It has been two months since we've been given access to the library," and warned that limited legal research impedes detainees' ability to pursue immigration relief. Philabaum told the Commission that the facility's detained population had roughly doubled recently to about 800 people, and he said advocates had collected testimonies alleging staffing shortages, plumbing failures and medical neglect.
Commissioner Linda Jaramillo later delivered a first‑hand report from an unannounced visit she conducted to TCDF. She described the intake and records processes, laundry and medical spaces as orderly, saying she was "very impressed by the thoroughness" of intake and that "everywhere I went throughout the facility it was clean and well kept." Jaramillo also described meeting privately with detainees and hearing complaints about food and other conditions, and she noted advocates' claims remain a concern the Commission needs to monitor.
The meeting produced no formal action to alter the county's contract with CoreCivic or ICE. Commissioners approved the restricted housing unit report for the first quarter of 2025 and heard repeated public comments asking the board to ensure detainees' access to law library resources and medical care; no direct responses from CoreCivic or ICE were presented at the meeting. The advocates requested that the Commission confirm contractual compliance with federal detention standards and consider ending the contract; the issues raised remain unresolved in the record from this meeting.
