The ACLU of New Hampshire is asking the federal government to disclose whether it plans to use a prison in New Hampshire to house immigration detainees.
The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request Monday morning with the Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
Using the Freedom of Information Act, the ACLU is requesting any records related to using the federal Berlin prison to house immigration detainees.
The request is based on a document published by KTVU Fox 2 in San Francisco, which appears to be an agreement between the Bureau of Prisons and ICE to confine immigration detainees at federal prisons.
According to the agreement, the Bureau of Prisons would use up to four units at the Berlin prison for immigration detainees. The units are not ready yet and will need significant preparation and resources before they can be used. The memo also says that ICE will pay to prepare and maintain the prison, as well as reimburse costs like transportation, meals and interpretation services.
The LA Times published a related story, citing a recruitment email from a captain at an Oregon prison asking for any volunteers that might be willing to relocate to Berlin. According to the email, at least 500 migrants will be expected in Berlin.
NHPR reached out to the Bureau of Prisons for confirmation of these media accounts and was referred to the press contact for ICE, who has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
If the reports are true, ACLU Policy Director Amanda Azad said that she has strong concerns about the conditions and treatment of hundreds of immigrants that might be detained in this federal prison.
"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," she said. “…[W]e refuse to stand by and allow this cruelty in our state."
In recent years, FOIA requests from the ACLU have yielded data for encounters or apprehensions at the state's northern border that was previously not public.
