MILAN, NM – In the hours following the publication of last week’s story “Closing CCCC / How ‘Dignity Not Detention’ Could Close Local Jail”, the Cibola Citizen heard from CoreCivic, the company that runs the Cibola County Correctional Center in the Village of Milan.
In a text message, CoreCivic Public relations specialist Ryan Gustin wrote of the story, “The headline is significantly misleading… And with having done just a quick read through of the story, I feel like there could be some factual inaccuracies, but I recognize that I’ll need additional time to outline those.” Gustin asked that the story be taken down from the Citizen’s website until Core-Civic could determine what those inaccuracies may be. The Citizen responded by explaining the story would not be taken off the website, and that any response to the story by CoreCivic would be published. Further, the newspaper informed Gustin that if there are any factual inaccuracies, the record would be corrected to reflect the accurate account.
The following was received through email from CoreCivic’s Ryan Gustin at 10:55 a.m. on March 6. The following has not been edited in any way by the Cibola Citizen staff: Good morning! As I shared in our earlier communication, I have some serious concerns about your recent article, “Closing CCCC.” The first is the headline, which is misleading and not reflective of what would happen at the Cibola County Correctional Center (CCCC), even if New Mexico Senate Bill 172 were to become law. As you reported in your article, we proudly serve various government partners at CCCC. Any implication that this facility is closing is false. Nearly 200 staff work at CCCC, and they’re part of the Milan and Cibola County community. We are extremely grateful and proud of the important service they provide. The inaccurate headline is not only concerning for current staff, but may also mislead prospective employees, not to mention members of the community.
There are also several other false or misleading statements in the article: Account of Roxsana Hernandez There are some critical facts omitted from this section. Ms. Hernandez came to CCCC in May 2018 gravely ill. When she arrived, she went through the intake process, which includes a medical evaluation. The medical team made the determination that she needed to be immediately transported to an outside hospital. Ms. Hernandez was only at Cibola for 12 hours, where she stayed in the intake area before being transported to the hospital where she passed away nine days later.
The independent New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator released its findings in the death of Ms. Hernandez in April 2019, which was not reported in the article at all. The results can be found here. Those findings contradicted claims made in an earlier autopsy conducted on behalf of Ms. Hernandez’s estate. The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator stated: “While a preliminary report from a second autopsy identified soft tissue bleeding over the sides and back of the chest thought to be secondary to physical abuse, we do not share that conclusion. Ms. Hernandez had extensive fractures of the ribs and sternum (breastbone) consistent with a series of at least 10 cardiac arrests with successful rounds of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by medical personnel working to save her life. During the period when Ms. Hernandez was being resuscitated, her platelet count (blood elements responsible for clotting) was extremely low which would amplify the bleeding associated with physically forceful CPR.”
It's also important to note that the earlier autopsy conducted on behalf of Ms. Hernandez’s estate was done by Kris Sperry. Sperry abruptly retired from his job as chief medical examiner of Georgia in 2015 after The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported that he “had taken on more than 500 cases as a paid forensic expert and that his moonlighting had created conflicts of interest and undermined his scientific and medical judgment.”
All staff in CoreCivic’s ICE-contracted facilities are required to complete 160 hours of pre-service training, as well as ongoing annual training, which includes the dynamics of sexual abuse and harassment and guidance on respectful interactions with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and gender-nonconforming detainees. Training also includes specific emphasis on our zero-tolerance policy regarding abuse, sexual abuse and harassment.
“More recently, the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center has informed the Cibola Citizen about hunger strikes at CCCC by immigrant detainees who claim they are denied medical access, treated with discrimination, and denied human rights. The hunger strikes were being done to bring attention to their plight, but according to NMILC, these ICE detainees were deported three weeks after the story broke.”
At CCCC, our team works to provide immigration detainees a variety of services from comprehensive health care to faithbased support and access to legal resources while they prepare for the next steps in their immigration process. Much of the recent reporting about CCCC, including the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center’s (NMILC) recent press release regarding a hunger strike, has been inaccurate and misleading and not reflective of our policies, procedures or values. The reality is that we provide a safe, humane and appropriate environment for those entrusted to us at CCC and are constantly striving to deliver an even better standard of care. When the NMILC release was published, we shared with numerous media outlets that “As of November 16, 2022, there has been no hunger strike at CCCC. If you seek further corroboration, please contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), whose officials have unfettered access to CCCC.”
“In August another lawsuit was raised against CCCC after an ICE detainee, Garrido Diaz, was allegedly denied medical treatment for a broken ankle. When ICE tried to deport Diaz, his home country of Nicaragua refused to accept him because of the broken ankle.”
To our knowledge, there has been no lawsuit filed in this matter.
Additional Background CoreCivic cares deeply about every person in our care. All of our immigration facilities are monitored very closely by our government partners at ICE, and they’re required to undergo regular review and audit processes to ensure an appropriate standard of living for all detainees.
CoreCivic takes seriously our role and responsibility to provide high-quality healthcare to every individual in our care. The health services team at CCCC follows both CoreCivic’s standards for medical care and the standards set forth in ICE’s Performance Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS). CCCC medical personnel are onsite 24/7 to provide high-quality care to any detainee who needs it.
Our staff are trained and held to the highest ethical standards. Our commitment to keeping those entrusted to our care safe and secure is our top priority. We vehemently deny any allegations of detainee mistreatment. There is a robust grievance process in place should a detainee ever feel they have been treated unfairly. It’s worth noting that ICE employs a Detention Standard Compliance Officer to ensure our compliance to their strict standards and policies. The facility is also accredited by the independent American Correctional Association (ACA).
CoreCivic does not enforce immigration laws or policies or have any say whatsoever in an individual’s deportation or release. Those decisions are solely made by our government partners at ICE. For questions specifically about due process, we recommend you reach out to ICE Public Affairs at ICEMedia@ ice.dhs.gov.
We strive to be a responsive resource to members of the media and work to provide timely and factual information when we are contacted with a media inquiry. Since we were never contacted regarding this story, your reporting lacks the appropriate context for your readers. Had you reached out to us, we would have provided the following pertinent information. It’s also worth reiterating that our contact information and preferred email address for media inquiries, PublicAffairs@ CoreCivic.com, is clearly identified on the ‘Contact’page of our website. Respectfully, Ryan Gustin