Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department detains people on behalf of ICE

Washington (January 3, 2022) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are requesting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conduct an immediate review of the detainee conditions at the Plymouth County Correction Facility (PCCF) in Plymouth, Massachusetts, which is managed by the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department and currently detains people on behalf of ICE. Attorneys for immigrant detainees, advocacy groups, and family members of those detained have raised serious concerns related to the treatment and care of detainees at PCCF, including detainees’ lack of access to food and hot water, inadequate medical care, insufficient hygienic maintenance, limited and monitored interactions with counsel, violation of their rights to practice religion, and retaliatory punishment.

 “We are highly concerned that the rights and health of people detained on behalf of ICE at PCCF remain in jeopardy,” write the Senators in their letter to DHS and ICE. “Detainees should have access to a safe, dignified, and lawful environment. ICE officials and contractors must be transparent about how they treat people in their custody, and held accountable if they have refused to treat people in their custody consistent with basic human dignity and DHS rules and regulations.”

A copy of the letter can be found HERE.

While Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office announced its plans to end its 287(g) agreement with ICE in September, the decision does not impact PCCF’s detention of immigrants. After ICE terminated immigration-detention agreements with the Bristol and Franklin County — the other Massachusetts jails that previously held immigrant detainees — a number of detainees were transferred to PCCF.

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