Cibola County Correctional Center Under Fire

Diego Lopez, Reporter

MILAN, N.M. – A new, official complaint alleges serious misconduct at the Cibola County Correctional Center. This lawsuit focuses on the part of the prison which houses immigrant detainees from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The complaint, filed August 16 with the Department of Homeland Security by New Mexico Immigrant Law Center on behalf of Garrido Diaz, an immigrant from Nicaragua who is seeking political asylum in the United States. The complaint alleges that both CCCC and the ICE Field Office in El Paso, Texas, failed in their duty to provide proper medical care to Garrido, as well as violating his rights to due process by not providing him with a translator. When he arrived at CCCC, the complaint alleges Diaz was abused and denied access to a device which can help him walk. CoreCivic Public Affairs Manager Matthew Davio said, “We vehemently deny any allegations of detainee mistreatment. There is a robust grievance process in place should a detainee ever feel that they have been treated unfairly,” he said the complaint is “[Not] accurate, nor reflective of our policies, procedures or values.”

Medical Neglect

The complaint opens by alleging serious medical misconduct by the corrections center. On July 6, Diaz injured his ankle – the complaint does not elaborate on how – and was in excruciating pain. He allegedly cried out for over an hour before staff members responded to his injuries. Staff provided him with ice packs and pain-relieving medicine before sending him away. Diaz continued to suffer through pain for the next several weeks, with his ankle turning colors and eventually the pain becoming too overwhelming for Diaz to stand. The complaint claims that Diaz requested a wheelchair multiple times but never received one, but was given a bottle of painkiller. Eventually, an unnamed guard was able to provide a walker.

Two more weeks would pass with the pain getting worse and worse before Diaz was given an X-ray. Diaz requested a copy of his X-ray and a diagnosis for his ankle, medical staff allegedly denied his requests.

On July 18, around 1 a.m., Diaz was awoken from his sleep by CCCC staff and taken to an intake area, his ankle still injured, Diaz was shackled from his wrists to his ankles with several other inmates. Here, Diaz was allegedly denied use of his walker.

Diaz was taken out of his room because staff expected him to be deported, he was loaded into a van to be taken to an airport in Albuquerque, N.M. While waiting for his deportation flight, the Nicaraguan Government sent word that they would not accept Diaz from the US Government because of his ankle injury. Diaz was then taken to a different ICE facility, which the NM Immigrant Law Center believes to be the Torrance County Detention Center, which has been under significant scrutiny for its alleged mistreatment of immigrant detainees. While at the TCDC, Diaz pleaded to TCDC, Diaz pleaded to be seen by a doctor but was told he must wait until he returned to Cibola.

NM Immigrant Law Center has been denied, with each of their requests, to see the original X-ray photo taken at CCCC. In a statement, the organization raised concerns about whether CCCC and ICE were willingly going to send a man to Nicaragua knowing he was injured. Diaz was returned to Cibola by 9 p.m. The complaint alleges that he did not receive any food or water since 7 that morning. Diaz has had insomnia since this event, according to the complaint.

The next day, July 19, Diaz was taken to the infirmary where medical staff referred him to Cibola General Hospital. It was at CGH that medical experts realized Diaz had a fractured ankle. Diaz received a cast, and additional pain medication.

Weeks later, on August 5, a COVID-19 exposure in Diaz’s unit was reported. Diaz began to suffer COVID symptoms. On that evening the entire unit was tested for COVID-19. The next morning, Diaz tested positive.

The unit was quarantined, with each of the inmates being placed in personal cells with a radio to contact CCCC officers. The complaint alleges that officers never responded to correspondence from the inmates. On August 10 one of the quarantined inmates allegedly fell ill, and was very sick. Despite pleas from inmates, CCCC staff did not move to help the sick inmate, who did recover from the disease. Attorneys with NM Immigrant Law Center are working with ICE to determine why news of the COVID-19 outbreak at CCCC was not released to the public. The complaint further alleges that Diaz did not receive assistance when he was filing his asylum claims. Because Diaz does not speak English, and was not provided with Spanish documents, the complaint alleges that he was denied his right to due process under the law.

“I would like people to know what's happening to me because what I am living through is not easy, it's inhumane,” Diaz said in a statement released by NM Immigrant Law Center. “I imagine many others detained here are living through the same inhumane conditions. We’re people just like anyone else, we should have the same rights as everyone else. Unfortunately, here, our rights don’t matter.”

Diaz remains incarcerated at CCCC.

Sophia Genovese, senior attorney with NM Immigrant Law Center said, “Here we are again: calling out medical neglect, significant mistreatment and discrimination against BIPOC immigrants, and due process violations that plague detained immigration proceedings. We hope this complaint to the CRCL Office at DHS and the newly created Detention Ombudsman finally creates accountability for the systemic and widespread human rights violations that occur at Cibola, and throughout the El Paso ICE area of responsibility. More than that, we demand the release of Mr. Garrido Diaz, reparations for the abuses he has endured, and access to full and fair asylum proceedings” Emily Bruell, asylum fellow with NM Immigrant Law Center, said, “The abuse and neglect Edgar suffered in ICE detention is appalling, made doubly horrifying by the fact that the El Paso ICE Field Office continues to deny the discretionary release of Edgar and hundreds of other asylum seekers just like him from detention centers in New Mexico. By denying Edgar release time and time again, ICE is jeopardizing Edgar's physical and mental health. This prolonged detention, coupled with significant due process violations, were directly responsible for Edgar not being able to effectively represent himself in his asylum proceedings. There is no justification for ICE not to have released Edgar, who has a large family and community willing to support him upon release from ICE detention. Edgar's situation is unfortunately not unique; however, it saliently underscores the direct and brutal human costs of a carceral immigration system, which has the exclusive goals of detaining and deporting as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.”

Staff Denies Claims

Staff at Cibola County Correctional Center vehemently deny the allegations made in the complaint. The lawsuit comes around the same time the prison loses a large chunk of its upper-level admin staff. CCCC is located at 2000 Cibola Loop in Milan. It houses inmates for Cibola County, ICE, and the United States Marshal’s Service. This is not the first time the facility has been affected by claims of abuse toward ICE inmates, but this is the first major complaint to come out about CCCC in years.