Kadner: Crete detention camp a country club setting

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Updated: February 23, 2012 8:14AM

A detention center for illegal immigrants in Crete would include skylights, television sets, fitness equipment, aerobics classes, a law library, basketball courts, volleyball and free medical and dental care.

All of that and more is detailed in a white paper submitted by the village to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

That document and others were obtained by the SouthtownStar through a Freedom of Information Act request to Crete for “all proposals” and “correspondence” regarding plans to build the center. The request produced no contracts or other legal documents.

“There are no contracts,” village manager Thomas Durkin said. “All of the plans are tentative, and nothing has been approved. That’s why we haven’t held any public meetings about this. I couldn’t give people answers because right now there are no answers.”

Information about the location, cost and size of the detention center were redacted from the documents under exemptions for commercial trade secrets and security concerns regarding correctional facilities.

However, this column has reported in the past that a private company is considering building the detention center on farmland at the end of Hartman Drive, about a mile south of Burville Road.

During a conversation Friday, Durkin told me that the Corrections Corporation of America, which operates prisons and immigration detention camps, approached Crete with the proposal to build in the village. He said Crete did not seek out CCA nor did it consider hiring any other contractor.

The white paper, submitted in 2010, notes that some detainees may have criminal histories.

“Consequently, detainees at the medium and maximum classification levels may require housing in a more secure area of the facility,” the proposal states. “The new system will provide safe and secure conditions of confinement based on the individual characteristics of a diverse population including: threat to the community, risk of flight, type and status of immigration proceeding, community ties, medical and health issues.”

The detainees could potentially include men, women and entire families.

It is my understanding that detainees with criminal histories already will have served time in a penal institution before being transferred to the proposed Crete center.

Although ICE has tentatively approved Crete as the site of the detention center, it has not given its final approval.

If and when it does, Durkin said, the village board would have to vote at a public meeting on the location and a contract with CCA to build and operate the center.

“But I would stress that we haven’t even begun negotiations with CCA on the contract issues,” Durkin said.

If the proposal is approved, ICE would authorize the village to hire a private contractor to build and operate the facility. ICE would provide Crete with a daily stipend for each inmate, money the village would share with the contractor.

CCA has been operating detention facilities in cooperation with ICE for 27 years and is considered the largest private company in the business of building prisons and detention camps.

ICE’s initial request for proposals to build the detention center suggested that it be large enough to accommodate 700 beds and be within a 90-minute drive of Chicago.

“The Crete Village/CCA team would dress employees in less-institutional style uniforms,” the Crete proposal states. “Detainees in the adult residential section of the facility will dress informally. Furnished clothing would include similarly styled attire as found among the detainees prior to detention.

“Two-piece outfits, shirts and pants would be of a certain style and color to differentiate a detainee from a staff member but would not give the appearance of a uniform. Appropriate undergarments and shoes would be provided.”

The center also would provide video conferencing if a detainee’s relatives or lawyer could not visit in person. It would have cafeteria-style meal service “with menu options,” a laundry, private showers and restrooms “where practicable.”

“To make certain the facility maintains a relaxed environment, staff would serve as a support system providing assistance to detainees,” the white paper contends.

“Staff would be instructed to behave in a manner that promotes less formality since the facility would enact fewer rules than is typical of a correctional facility.”

Sounds nice. Now if we could only provide that sort of thing for homeless citizens.