The U.S. Bureau of Prisons is still dealing with the aftermath of a riot last month at the Willacy County Correctional Center that left the southeast Texas prison (a collection of Kevlar domes) “uninhabitable,” the Marshall Project reports. The Utah-based Management and Training Corporation, which runs the facility, has said the prisoners, mostly immigrants caught illegally trying to enter the U.S., planned a riot in hopes of being transferred to another facility.
Carl Takei of the American Civil Liberties Union blamed condition at the facility, including overcrowding, overuse of solitary confinement, and overflowing toilets. Next week, the private company is due to bid for contracts to run a new immigrant facility in Leflore County, Ms., as well as four existing immigration facilities in Texas. Takei says Willacy should be a cautionary tale for Leflore County. He also points to a series of scandals over poor conditions at state prisons run by the Utah company, which may lead to an ACLU-sponsored class action suit.