Almost two months after Leavenworth city leaders granted CoreCivic a permit to reopen a facility and use it to detain immigrants, a community advisory board has started monitoring the company.
The board, called the CoreCivic Community Relations Advisory Board, is designed to ensure CoreCivic’s Midwest Regional Reception Center (MRRC) abides by the city’s special use permit rules and properly cares for detainees and staff. It has 14 city-appointed board members, which includes city officials, religious leaders, the MRRC’s warden and other professionals.
The meeting Tuesday included an update from the detention facility’s warden, Misty Mackey. Mackey told board members the facility is housing 249 people, including 59 women. She said there have been limited medical issues and the facility averages about 50 visitors per week, which is more than anticipated. The Mexican Consulate, said Mackey, visits regularly.
Mackey told board members MRRC currently has five private in-house courtrooms for virtual legal proceedings and is hosting regular religious services for inmates. She offered regular tours of the detention center to board members, some of whom have not toured before, after board meetings.
At the meeting, board member and private immigration attorney Michael Sharma-Crawford raised concerns about detainees not having access to their charging documents. He says that could hinder legal proceedings.
“Part of the problem is they're not getting due process,” he said. “They have no way to look at the charges. They have no way to formulate a defense or ask questions or be informed.”
Sharma-Crawford said he personally has experienced detainees at MRRC not having the proper paperwork from immigration officials, and other immigration attorneys in the region have had the same issue.
Mackey said CoreCovic is not taking paperwork from inmates and it is an issue for federal immigration officials.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the Kansas News Service in an email that “every detainee at the MRRC has received their immigration charging documents.”
Future board meetings are open to the public and scheduled for the fourth Tuesday of the month at 2 p.m.
Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga reports on health care disparities and access for the Kansas News Service. You can email her at r.shackelford@kcur.org.
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