Report: Abuses at federal detention center

TACOMA, Wash., July 18 (UPI) -- Illegal immigrants held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Wash., are subjected to widespread abuses, a civil rights group says.

The report by the Seattle University School of Law's International Human Rights Clinic and OneAmerica, an immigrant rights group in Seattle, says detainees at the center are subjected to excessive strip searches, insufficient quantities of food, overcrowding and a lack of due process.

"Probably the starkest finding was not a single episode, but the fact that there really are no binding and, therefore, no legally enforceable standards that govern detention, which is now the fastest-growing form of incarceration in this country," said Pramila Jayapal, executive director of OneAmerica.

The Salem (Ore.) Statesman Journal reported Friday that the center serves Oregon, Washington and Alaska. It is also where illegal immigrants who commit criminal offenses are sent to await deportation after completing their prison sentences.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security division that oversees Tacoma's detention facility, called the report a "fabrication," the newspaper reported.

Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman for ICE, said the center meets, and in many instances exceeds, national compliance standards.

"We provide a secure and humane environment for our detainees," Dankers said. "It is a comfortable and safe environment."