this jail isnt about law and order or making the world better. it sounds like its solely being build to raise revenue Original Article Pinal plans newest jail to hold ICE migrants U.S. would pay county to hold 625 detainees Josh Kelley The Arizona Republic Sept. 20, 2005 12:00 AM Pinal County is spending big bucks to build more jail cells and a training facility in Florence. And officials are banking on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not county taxpayers, to pay the tab. The county has borrowed $65 million to pay for the renovation and 1,034-bed expansion of its adult detention center, a new training facility with a firing range for deputies and a new 100-bed juvenile detention center. Officials plan to pay off that debt and $10 million a year in operating costs with $15 million a year the county hopes to charge the federal government for housing up to 625 undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation after being detained by ICE agents. County Manager Stanley Griffis said he expects to finalize a deal with ICE officials this fall after almost two years of negotiations. The jail would be for undocumented immigrants detained by ICE for immigration violations and sent to the county under the terms of established intergovernmental agreements. Immigrants arrested by state and local authorities for committing crimes locally would be housed in those agency's jails. The Pinal County jail is under construction and expected to open next spring. If the agreement falls through or ICE's need for detention space declines, the new facilities' debt and operating costs would be paid for with county taxpayer money. Nationwide, about 350 agencies have intergovernmental agreements with ICE to house varying numbers of detainees, but not all agreements are utilized, said Ernestine Fobbs, an ICE spokeswoman in Washington. Funding for housing ICE detainees is determined at the national level. In August, ICE housed an average of 20,709 detainees a day nationwide. Federal funding next year is expected to cover up to 2,250 additional detainees a day nationwide. For agencies like the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, agreements with ICE have proved to be lucrative. Last year, the department pulled in about $27.8 million for detaining an average of 839 undocumented immigrants per day at its Mira Loma Detention Center, said Glen Dragovich, who oversees the department's financial programs bureau. That jail holds ICE inmates only. "From the federal perspective, it's very expensive to construct correctional facilities and detention facilities," said Lt. Rick Mouwen, who manages law enforcement contracts for the department. "It's easier for them to enter into . . . relationships with sheriffs departments." Mouwen said such arrangements are becoming increasingly common. ICE has at least 13 agreements with agencies throughout Arizona to house detainees as needed, but none of those agencies houses the number of inmates that Pinal County is planning to detain, said Terry Altman, chief deputy over detention for the Sheriff's Office. Russell Ahr, ICE spokesman for Arizona, said ICE officials with whom he has spoken are not privy to negotiations between the agency and Pinal County. But he said any intergovernmental agreement approved would allow ICE to house inmates on an as-needed basis with no minimum requirements. ICE, which is a division of the Department of Homeland Security, already has about 1,000 beds at its own detention center in Florence and averages 900 to 950 inmates there, Ahr said. ICE also has a joint facility with the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Eloy, where at least 1,000 more beds are available for housing undocumented immigrants. Griffis said he is confident the agreement will pay off. "I'm a hundred percent sure that once we build it, we'll get 625 inmates from ICE," Griffis said. "I'm absolutely certain we're going to get the money from ICE." He said the agency actually needs more beds than the 625 the county wants to provide. Griffis said he limited the number to ensure the county could afford to pay for the facility out of its General Fund if ICE didn't use the beds. While negotiations continue, Sheriff Chris Vsquez and his staff are planning how to deal with the unique challenges that such a large population of diverse people will bring. Vsquez and Altman recently visited California's Mira Loma facility and the Kern County jail in Bakersfield. Altman said the Bakersfield facility is operated much like he hopes his jail in Florence will function. Undocumented immigrants apprehended by ICE are detained along with people either serving time or awaiting trial for offenses other than immigration violations. Medical history and background information on undocumented immigrants is often sparse, even non-existent, Altman said. "This individual may be a career criminal back in their home country, but we don't have that information," Altman said. "That's always going to be a challenge." But ICE detainees generally require less security than other inmates because most of its detainees have not been convicted or charged with major crimes or felonies, said Capt. Dave Waters, who oversees the Mira Loma Detention Center. Waters said he encounters fewer disciplinary violations than at a typical jail, so detainees are given more freedom. For instance, they are allowed to keep $70 in cash for vending machines. Detainees even volunteer to work in the kitchen or help with gardening, despite not being required to help, Waters said. "You just don't have that level of tension here that some jails have," he said. At Mira Loma, most detainees are from Mexico, but other countries of origin include China, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Sri Lanka, Mauritania, Tibet and Eritrea. "Probably the biggest challenge is there can be the language barrier," Waters said. At the Pinal County Detention Center, most of the ICE inmates are not expected to be from Mexico, Altman said. About 75 percent of the inmates at ICE's Florence facility are not from Mexico, and most are deported within three weeks, Ahr said. To communicate with inmates who speak exotic languages, Altman said he plans to use a telephone translator service and detainees as interpreters, a tactic used at the Mira Loma facility.