Immigrant advocacy groups are raising the alarm about new plans to use a maximum-security prison north of Indianapolis to house immigration detainees facing deportation, accusing local and state officials of "complicity" in the Trump administration's "inhumane" treatment of undocumented immigrants.
Gov. Mike Braun's office announced earlier in August that up to 1,000 undocumented immigrants will be housed at the Miami Correctional Facility, a men's prison located on the former Grissom Air Force Base about 70 miles north of Indianapolis. The facility has a capacity for up to 3,100 men, but it has been only partially filled. The announcement came shortly after revelations that the Trump administration is also planning to house up to 1,000 ICE detainees at Camp Atterbury, a military training facility south of Indianapolis.
State and federal officials have promoted the partnership as a way to remove "the worst of the worst" from the country. Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem dubbed Miami Correctional the "Speedway Slammer," a moniker that prompted some pushback from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
But immigrant advocates condemned the partnership as a "cruel" way to target, detain and deport undocumented immigrants regardless of criminal history, according to a joint statement from local and national organizations. Turning Miami Correctional and Camp Atterbury into massive ICE detention centers could turn Indiana into a "new regional hub for ICE detention" and dramatically escalate arrests of immigrants in Indiana and in the Midwest, the groups said.
"The decision to increase ICE detentions through the Miami Correctional Facility 'Speedway Slammer' and Camp Atterbury deepens Indiana's complicity in a system that tears families apart and inflicts long-term harm," Sayra Perez, organizer at the Indiana Undocumented Youth Alliance, said in the statement. "Our state’s growing role in ICE’s detention and deportation machine is a direct attack on immigrant Hoosiers — our coworkers, students and neighbors."
A continuing surge in arrests, coupled with a new federal policy that disqualifies immigrants from bond hearings, has created an increased demand for more bed spaces and detention facilities. In the past, immigration judges have allowed immigrants who are not considered a threat or a flight risk and have community ties to be released while they fight deportation. But the Trump administration has circumvented the years-long practice. Advocates say this means more and more immigrants — regardless of criminal history — will be detained for longer periods of time while they fight deportation.
"The inevitable increase in the number of Hoosier immigrants detained will further put pressure on legal service providers as well as the Chicago and Indianapolis Immigration Courts to adjudicate cases, despite the fact that many immigration judges have either resigned or been fired since March," said Hannah Cartwright, an attorney at Mariposa Legal, an Indianapolis nonprofit that represents immigrants. "As a result, the Trump Administration is effectively eliminating due process for Hoosier immigrants as a practical matter and further entrenching a mass deportation system in the midwest.”
ICE has relied on a large network of jails and state, federal and privately operated facilities to hold immigration detainees. In Indiana, four county jails, including Marion County, have contracts with the U.S. Marshals Service to house ICE detainees. The federal government pays the local jails a per diem rate for each detainee, as well as transportation and meal costs.
Clay County Jail, which has been housing immigration detainees since 2013 and significantly expanded its capacity in recent years, is one of the largest ICE detention centers in the Midwest.
Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at (317) 444-3026 or at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'Speedway Slammer' plans could turn Indiana into ICE detention hub, critics say
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