Deadly Private Prison Operator wants to Open an ICE Facility in Marana

Citizens in Southern Arizona must stop the deadly, disreputable Management & Training Corporation (MTC) from building a deathtrap ICE facility in Marana at 12610 W. Silverbell Rd. – just two miles away from residents’ homes.

Make your voice heard at an upcoming forum to learn about and discuss a planned ICE detention center in Marana, Pima County.

The forum will be held on December 11 at 6pm, at Mountain View High School, 3901 W. Linda Vista Blvd., Marana (near Thornydale).

There will be information on what you can do and learn about the activities against this brutal detention center. The forum will again be moderated by Pima County Supervisor Jen Allen and feature expert panelists on immigration, refugee rights and detention centers.

Management & Training Corporation (MTC) is a privately-held company based in Centerville, Utah. It used to run two prisons in Arizona: Marana and Kingman. Both contracts were cancelled by the state following prison riots, gulag conditions, jailbreaks that resulted in local murders, and defective security.

MTC is seeking a contract with ICE to convert the facility at 12610 W. Silverbell Rd. into an immigration detention center – just two miles away from nearby homes.

MTC’s Dangerous Record in Arizona

• In 2015, there was a series of riots at the Kingman Prison that injured 8 officers and 20 inmates and damaged the facility so badly that more than a third of the prisoners had to be relocated. Two minimum security units were left “uninhabitable.” The Department of Corrections had to deploy 96 of its special tactical force units in order to quell the riots after several days of rioting. (“Ariz. sends special forces to quell Kingman prison riot, Arizona Republic, 7/5/15)
• The root cause of the riot was inmates responding to dismal prison conditions and a pattern of excessive force from staff. (“Sheriffs: Mistreatment of prisoners caused Kingman Riot,” Arizona Republic, 8/11/15).
• Gov. Doug Ducey cancelled the contract after the state released a scathing report about numerous issues at the Kingman prison, including a “culture of casual indifference toward staff and training.” (“Arizona cuts ties with private-prison operator over Kingman riot,” Arizona Republic, 8/27/15)
• In 2010, three prisoners escaped from the Kingman prison. The three got past locked doors, avoided surveillance cameras and ground and fence sensors, and went unnoticed by guard towers and ground patrol while they cut a hole in some perimeter fencing. This may be in part because reports show that guards had learned to ignore alarms due to the system’s faulty design and the common occurrence of false alarms. (“Prison chief says that state didn’t detect prison flaws,” Arizona Republic, 8/19/10).
• It took MTC more than an hour to notify the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office that the men were at large, and the public was not notified until the next day. (“Arizona cons’ escape raises many questions,” Arizona Republic, 8/3/10).
• While on the run from police, the escapees murdered an elderly couple from Oklahoma who were found dead and badly burned in their camper in New Mexico. (“Arizona prison escapees linked to N.M. killings,” AP, 8/7/10).
• After the Kingman escapes, a security audit of Arizona’s private prisons revealed that MTC’s Marana prison had broken security cameras, swamp coolers that didn’t work, insecure doors and windows on housing units, inadequate perimeter lighting, and broken control-room panels that had been broken for several months and were not fixed “due to fiscal reasons” (“2010 escape at Kingman an issue for MTC’s bid,” Arizona Republic, 8/11/11).

When the state returned seven months later, MTC still hadn’t fixed the control room panel, security cameras, or the doors and windows, despite promises that they would (“2010 escape at Kingman an issue for MTC’s bid,” Arizona Republic, 8/11/11).

• After the escapes, MTC dragged its feet on fixing security problems at Kingman. When the state pulled its prisoners from the unit and withheld payment as a consequence, MTC threatened to sue the state for $10 million. Eventually, the state caved in and paid the company $3 million for empty beds (“Arizona prison oversight lacking for private facilities, Arizona Republic, 8/7/11).

“I don’t want to see us disgraced by having (this) in our town,” said Sue Ritz, a candidate for Marana Town Council and Arizona National Guard veteran. “They’re human beings, and they have due process rights. Picking people up off the street without any warrants, without any criminal record — that is un-American.”

MTC’s Broken Promises

• MTC was fined 38 times by the state of Arizona for failing to fill staff vacancies in its Arizona prisons. The company was fined $843,964 for vacancies at Kingman and $53,885 for vacancies at Marana (“2010 escape at Kingman an issue for MTC’s bid,” Arizona Republic, 8/11/11).
• MTC’s Marana prison had a staff turnover rate of 36.4% in 2010 and 56.8% in 2011. There was extensive overtime to fill vacant positions. (Arizona Department of Corrections, “Contracted Private Prisons Assessment”).
• A DOC investigation found that MTC skimped on guards’ training, providing only 2 hours compared to DOC’s required 8. (Arizona Department of Corrections, “Contracted Private Prisons Assessment”).
• There have been at least 25 documented cases in which MTC was fined for violation of labor standards, totaling nearly $29 million. It shows that the company has paid over $25.5 million in fines for 20 ‘wage and hour’ violations, a $5 million fine for ‘kickbacks and bribery,’ $42,000 for three cases involving labor relations, and $9,600 for one health and safety violation. (Good Jobs First, https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/management-and-training-corporation)
• MTC left a Texas county high and dry when it pulled out of the contract to run a juvenile facility because it was not making enough money. The county lost $837,000 in just a few months after taking over the facility. (“Defunct juvenile jail draws debate,” Hood County News, 2/1/06).

• An investigation by the US Department of Labor found that MTC had not been paying its employees properly over a two-year period, from October 2003 to September 2005. The company has paid $486,000 in back wages to just over 260 current and former guards (“Utah company pays back wages to security employees,” KSL Utah, 2/1/07).
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) renegotiated its contract with MTC in Texas because the detention center was half-empty and MTC was not paying guards the wages required by ICE. Between 2006 and 2010, guards were paid only $8 or $9 per hour, even though they were supposed to be paid $14.50 per hour. MTC has been dragging its feet on paying the back pay amounts and also owes former employees for the pay difference, as well as amounts due from 401(k) plans and other funds (“New ICE plan may benefit Willacy economy,” 6/1/11).

“Big projects like this, the elected officials of that region, we normally hear from companies that have plans to do something, and we have heard nothing,” said District 3 Supervisor Jennifer Allen.