Plymouth County jail, the only one in Mass. with ICE detainees, has extended the contract

PLYMOUTH − Immigrant-rights advocates are calling on the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department to join all other Massachusetts counties in not providing detention services for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Plymouth County jail’s most recent intergovernmental service agreement, which allows the jail to detain immigrants on behalf of ICE, was set to expire Sept. 21 but has been extended until January 2024, a move that prompted advocates to again raise their concerns about such arrangements.

“We take this opportunity to demand that Sheriff Joseph McDonald cease contracting bed space to ICE at (the Plymouth County jail), and that ICE use its discretion to release the immigrants who remain confined there," a recent news release from a coalition of immigrant advocates and social justice groups said in response to the extension.

More: Tempers flare as Quincy debates temporary shelter for homeless refugee families

There were 90 such detainees at the jail as of Tuesday, Sept. 26, said Karen Barry, external communications director for the sheriff’s department.

Barry said the jail houses detainees from the local to federal level as their cases move through the court system.

“We provide care and custody for the duration of time determined by the court,” she said. “We do not determine who is sent to us, and our mission is to provide safe care and custody while a detainee awaits adjudication.”

In the coalition's statement, civil rights and civil liberties advocate Marco Battistotti said, "“With just under 100 immigrant detainees at Plymouth, this moment marks a crucial opportunity to prevent ICE from incarcerating any more of our community members and to keep families together and stop criminalizing immigration.”

Those against the agreement with ICE said detainees have suffered various forms of abuse, from unsanitary cell conditions and spoiled food to threats of deportation and solitary confinement. There also have been accusations of physical abuse.

“Nobody should be treated the way those detained by ICE in Plymouth are treated,” said Annie Gonzalez, of the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network.

Barry said such claims are investigated.

“A report of misuse of a detainee is taken very seriously, and we will investigate any concerns and take immediate action,” she said.

The facility is audited throughout the year to review confinement conditions, she said.

“We are held to a high standard and welcome auditors almost monthly,” she said. “Our conditions of confinement are scrutinized, and we have received a perfect score for the past 10 years from the Massachusetts Department of Correction.”

More: Dozens of 'migrant' families being moved to Plymouth, Kingston

She said the facility earned its three-year reaccreditation with a score of 99.6% from the American Correctional Association in August and that the department would be able to talk more about the future of its agreement with ICE in January.

In one of the more high-profile charges of abuse, a Honduran man who was detained at the jail in 2021 said he was beaten after reporting sexual harassment by a fellow detainee. He sued the sheriff’s office at the end of that year for refusing to approve a special visa intended for crime victims who work with police.

The sheriff's office, in a form letter on Oct. 19, 2021, denied that the man was the victim of a crime and said he was not helpful to investigators.

More: Plymouth sheriff sued by immigration detainee who says he was beaten, denied a visa

A judge reversed the sheriff's denial in 2023, according to a statement at the time from the ACLU.

"In what may be the first ruling of its kind, the Superior Court judge found that Plymouth County officials acted illegally when they denied the man’s request for U visa certification, and remanded the matter for a new hearing," the statement said.

It's unclear whether that hearing has been held.

Even without claims of abuse, immigrant advocates said detaining immigrants for ICE in itself is a problem.

“The fewer cages we have for ICE, the fewer people they will detain,” Gonzalez said.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Immigrant groups want Plymouth County sheriff to end ICE contract