Concerns about conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities across Oklahoma have raised alarms among detainees, immigration attorneys, and lawmakers. Oklahoma has several ICE detention centers, including those in Kay County, Cimarron, Tulsa, and Watonga.
KOCO 5 has spoken with immigration attorneys and detainees, though most declined to go on record due to fears for their safety. One detainee described the experience as feeling “like being an animal” and said it bordered on abusive. Another detainee said the biggest issue was that their treatment did not match the low-level crimes they were accused of.
State Senator Visits Facilities
State Sen. Michael Brooks-Jimenez, who is also an immigration attorney, has been visiting the facilities to meet with his clients. He emphasized the importance of creating oversight and has been performing informal inspections of one of the facilities.
Brooks-Jimenez said, “It’s important to be able to create oversight. As a state senator, I’ve had a chance to be able to perform informal inspections of one of the facilities. I haven’t had the chance to be able to do the other one yet. But also, to be able to keep in contact with people and to be able to, to maintain a running list of the complaints and, and concerns, to be able to see if those complaints are growing.”
Original reporting: Oklahoma City News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
