US opens kinder, gentler immigrant jail

KARNES: Federal officials on Tuesday unveiled a new model of detention facility for low-risk immigration violators in Texas - designed in every way not to resemble a jail, though it still is one.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement director John Morton called it "a first in the entire history of immigration detention," allowing ICE detainees "greater unescorted movement, enhanced recreational opportunities, and contact visitation, while also maintaining a safe and secure atmosphere for detainees and staff."

The civil detention center in rural Karnes City, Texas (population 3,042) is a 608-bed facility for male immigration detainees deemed not to pose a threat to themselves or others.

It was launched as the United States is riled by a major debate over immigration reform and after years of protests by human rights groups about the conditions in which illegal immigrants - including families with children - were being held.

The series of low buildings surrounded by green pastures peppered with grazing cows and wildflowers looks more like a Walmart than a detention facility.

There's no obvious security in the form of chain link fences, razor wire ringing the perimeter, or a giant gate to pass through on the way into the building.

Eight-bed dormitory rooms, not cellblocks, ring a courtyard with multiple grassy recreation yards, a library, a courtroom, and a medical center staffed 24 hours a day.

A series of skylights lets in natural light, detainees can wear jeans and sweatshirts and their own athletic shoes, and an array of payphones makes calling family and friends convenient during what immigration officials hope is an estimated 30-day stay in the facility.

ICE has facilities with greater security for medium- and high-risk immigration violators elsewhere in the country, including Chicago and South Florida.

In addition, ICE contracts with several hundred facilities nationwide to house detained immigration violators. (AFP)