USA ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BECOME PROFITABLE BUSINESS FOR SMALL CITY OF ELOY IN ARIZONA WITH A POPULATION OF 16996 AS IT WILL RECEIVE $ 438000 FOR WORKING AS CONDUIT FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LODGED ABOUT 920 MILES AWAY IN TEXAS WITH 2400 IMMIGRANTS IN 50 ACRES IN NEW FAMILY DETENTION CENTER JUST OPENED LAST MONTH AND FIRST PAYMENT EXPECTED THIS MONTH 19TH JANUARY 20`15 The federal government is giving the Pinal County city of Eloy a whole new definition for easy money. Thanks to a unique contract that involves the largest private-prison operator in America, Eloy stands to receive about $438,000 this year simply by acting as a conduit for a new detention center for undocumented immigrants about 920 miles away in Dilley, Texas. While Eloys city manager is pleased with the extra money, private-prison critics question the deal because the city essentially will be managing the contract for a Texas facility from afar. The partnership came together last fall when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement needed a place to house undocumented immigrants — mostly children and their parents — from Central America who had flooded the Southwest. The federal government decided to have a facility built in Dilley, but ICE did not have a contract in place with the Texas city southwest of San Antonio. It did, however, have a deal with Eloy. Eloy is the contractor for an ICE immigrant-detention facility within its own city limits that is managed by Corrections Corporation of America. The federal government simply modified its existing intergovernmental service agreement with Eloy to fast-track the process of building its facility in Texas. Adelina Pruneda, an ICE spokeswoman, said the new deal was done in response to the humanitarian crisis of families entering through the Texas Rio Grande Valley from Central America. The Texas facility will house up to 2,400 people on a campus of about 50 acres. Eloy, as the conduit for the agreement, will be paid by the federal government. It, in turn, will pay Corrections Corporation of America. As the intermediary, Eloy gets 50 cents per day per bed, regardless of whether someone is occupying the beds in Texas, according to Eloy City Manager Harvey Krauss. That translates to $438,000 annually. Krauss said the first check should be arriving this month. We just manage the money, Krauss said. We receive the money, account for it and cut checks. Noel Perez, city administrator of Dilley, could not be reached to discuss the arrangement. Krauss said Eloy, population 16,996, will use the windfall for one-time building maintenance or other repairs. He said the city likely will not make the new funds part of its roughly $5 million annual general-fund budget because theres no guarantee the money will continue indefinitely. However, Krauss said the latest ICE contract could be renewed two more times, giving Eloy additional funds for two more years. Believe me, it wont go to waste, he said. Private-prison critics are less enthused about the arrangement. Its absolutely mind-boggling, said Caroline Isaacs, program director for the American Friends Service Committee. Clearly, there are questions about accountability. Isaacs said Eloy is getting paid but providing no supervision over whether Corrections Corporation of America is doing an adequate job in Texas. Isaacs said she had never seen such a contract in her 20 years of being involved in prison-reform efforts. Frank Smith, a private-prison watchdog from Bluff City, Kan., said the latest ICE contract with Eloy allows the federal government to avoid an open bidding process and sidesteps environmental regulations in Texas. Steve Owen, a Corrections Corporation of America spokesman, declined comment.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 04:07:49 +0000
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