Thread by @ImmCivilRights

Live-Tweeting today's #FourHorsemen hearing before @HomelandDems, led by Chair @RepKathleenRice

Chairwoman reveals the Committee may have learned of a THIRD #COVID19 death in Florida today.

#DetentionKills
Calls for IMMEDIATE end to transfers between facilities.

@HomelandDems @RepKathleenRice The #FourHorsemen hearing is opened by @RepClayHiggins expressing disappointment that ICE wasn't invited to the hearing. Apparently the facility contractors aren't able to adequately describe what ICE told them.

Says "Additional layer of safety measures" provided by PRR. (2)

@HomelandDems @RepKathleenRice @RepClayHiggins @RepClayHiggins seems to be going on record in favor of subpoenaing @ICEgov to provide new information provided by contractors as a result of Chair[wo]man's "very professional document request."

Says the hearing topic is outside the Committee's jurisdiction. #FourHorsemen

@HomelandDems @RepKathleenRice @RepClayHiggins @ICEgov Speaking of "criminal convictions or charges pending" @RepClayHiggins suggests anyone detained by ICE deserves the medical neglect the Chair observed, DHS-OIG referred CoreCivic employee for criminal prosecution following the death of #JusticeforJean #FourHorsemen #DetentionKills

@HomelandDems @RepKathleenRice @RepClayHiggins @ICEgov Chair reveals that ICE basically rejected the invitation based on OMB rules. Dunk.

@BennieGThompson, whose backyard has been full of #COVID19 and private prison contracting, and who chairs the full committee, now up.

@BennieGThompson enters into the Record a letter from @GovAcctProj from #whistleblowers.

Then urges ICE to use ATDs "which the GEO group has managed for years".

Interesting: projects.propublica.org/represent/lobb…

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL says ICE was left out of the hearing and didn't know until last week.

Says leaving out ICE keeps them from counteracting an "increasing left-wing narrative".

Odd & tough to see how only inviting CEOs, serves that narrative.
#fourhorsemen #DetentionKills

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice now introduces CoreCivic CEO and Nashville resident Damon Hininger, GEO Group CEO George Zoley, Scott Marquardt, President & CEO of Management & Training Corp., Rodney Cooper, Exec. Director For LaSalle Corrections. Joined LaSalle in 2009. #FourHorsemen

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice Hininger / CoreCivic up first. Offers his bio. "At CoreCivic we take seriously the responsibility to ensure the people in our care are safe and treated in a humane manner." theintercept.com/2020/05/05/ice…

#FourHorsemen

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice CoreCivic's "EOC" could provide answers on why the Stewart Detention Center's immigration court remains closed indefinitely.

CCA has a #Covid19 taskforce and seeks to "educate" people on how to combat spread of COVID19. Screenings failed:azfamily.com/news/continuin…
#fourhorsemen

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice Hininger probably won't mention the $25M in profits CoreCivic booked last reporting period while people inside its facilities, including an untold number of its own employees, got sick from #COVID19

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice Dr. Zoley for GEO is up next. Offering some biographical information. Born in Greece. Begins by describing his memories of Greek Soldiers fighting communists.

Zoley says his principles include "never placing profit over the value of people"

#fourhorsemen
#DetentionKills

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice "We don't lobby for stricter criminal justice or immigration laws" - George Zoley.

"There have been zero #Covid19 deaths" in GEO facilities.

Think about how this must feel to the family of #DetentionKills client Choung Anh, who died at GEO's Mesa Verde facility.

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice Up next in the #FourHorsemen hearing is MTC CEO Scott Marquardt. MTC operates 5 detention facilities in CA, NM, Texas.

"We provide low-income youth with academic instruction and" . . . we also imprison people for profit.

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice MTC CEO says his company adopted the job corps model of "training and respect."

But that's not the purpose of civil immigration detention.
#fourhorsemen

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice What none of the #FourHorsemen will admit today, and what they may not be asked, is that they all run bussing companies that move noncitizens to and between their for-profit facilities. As the CDC has noted, you can't socially distance on a jail bus. #DetentionKills

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice LaSalle Corrections E.D. Rodney Cooper probably loses the @ratemyskyperoom competition for today's #FourHorseman hearing.

What he doesn't lose is the contest to drive up the #COVID19 numbers in medical vulnerable rural communities where it houses its facilities #DetentionKills

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice @ratemyskyperoom "To date, no one in our care or custody has died of #COVID19" - LaSalle ED Rodney Cooper says.
So it's just the guards their facilities are killing. So far.
dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/04/29/2-i…
#DetentionKills

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice @ratemyskyperoom tennessean.com/story/news/ame…
#DetentionKills

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice @ratemyskyperoom @RepKathleenRice asks CoreCivic CEO Hininger if he'll commit to launching an investigation of what's going on at Eloy.

Hininger begins by eat eat eating those dangerous minutes. He's by far the most polished of all the #fourhorsemen usatoday.com/story/news/nat…

He says no.

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice @ratemyskyperoom All #fourhorsemen commit to letting staff stay home if they feel sick.

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice @ratemyskyperoom @RepKathleenRice asks #FourHorsemen if any of them have told ICE they wouldn't refuse a transfer if someone's sick w/ #Covid19

CoreCivic says "no." Then says med staff screen on bus.
MTC won't offer a yes or no answer.
LaSalle says we do the same.

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice @ratemyskyperoom @RepKathleenRice asks about where the #FourHorsemen are getting the #COVID19 tests they're using in their facilities. Mixed answers.

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice @ratemyskyperoom Hearing from a number of viewers that the live-feed from the #FourHorsemen hearing is completely pixelated and audio is almost inaccessible. That's a shame.

@BennieGThompson @GovAcctProj @RepMikeRogersAL @RepKathleenRice @ratemyskyperoom If you're watching the livestream of this #FourHorsemen hearing and it's basically unintelligible, you're getting a really good sense of what it must feel like to be a human being locked inside one of their facilities. Bits and pieces of life-or-death information. #DetentionKills

We're back. @BennieGThompson asks GEO Chair Zoley about the number of GEO EEs who tested positive at ICE facilities.

167 positives.
1 hospitalized.
0 staff deaths.

#DetentionKills
#FourHorsemen

@BennieGThompson asks whether #COVID19 has impacted staffing.
#FourHorsemen say they're at lower capacity, so Zoley, Hininger, Marquardt, and Cooper say they've not had any staffing issues.

This is at odds with the experience of practitioners.

@BennieGThompson @BennieGThompson asks how they determine which EEs get tested.

Hininger says only symptomatic EEs get tested. Zoley says GEO's done "saturation testing" at 9 facilities. Marquardt says EEs can handle testing themselves and tests are available for them privately. Cooper agrees.

@BennieGThompson To be clear, it's July 2020. We know that #COVID19 can be spread by asymptomatic people.

The #FourHorsemen are telling @BennieGThompson that they're only controlling for symptomatic spread.

This is a deadly admission for so many guards at CoreCivic and GEO.

@BennieGThompson @RepMikeRogersAL asks GEO's Zoley about the "early adapter" status of the company as to PPE. Zoley says they got all detainees/staff PPE by working w/ suppliers. In April, GEO SVP Donahoe told a court in California under oath they couldn't do this due to supply chain shortages.

@BennieGThompson @RepMikeRogersAL MTC CEO Marquardt describes not having "really having any problem with staff or detainees" which should come as a surprise to the staff and detained folks he just testified have been diagnosed w #COVID19 at his facilities. #FourHorsemen

@BennieGThompson @RepMikeRogersAL Mr. Zoley just described alternating bunks and rooms in response to the "overcrowding" question from @RepMikeRogers. I wonder why GEO is placing detained individuals into solitary confinement as a means of quarantining them, then? #DetentionKills

@BennieGThompson @RepMikeRogersAL Scott Marquardt with MTC just blatantly misled the committee -- whether knowingly or not, by saying "ICE has taken all high-risk detainees out of our facilities" including anyone 55 or older or with risk factors. @creeclaw and @splcenter are currently asking a ct to do just that.

@BennieGThompson @RepMikeRogersAL @RepMikeRogers @RepDonaldPayne asks each of the #FourHorsemen about the 12 reported incidents of tear gas, pepper spray.

motherjones.com/politics/2020/…

MTC's Marquardt admits they don't carry it, but have it on site. Says he regularly visits facilities & talks to detainees. Ask date of last visit

Hininger says pepper spray, pepper gas isn't "carried on the individual" But that wasn't @RepDonaldPayne's question. Points finger to ICE.

Zoley admit it's available. Only used w/ approval of ICE, which is on-site: npr.org/2020/02/06/802…
Cooper says they can do it w ICE ok

@RepDonaldPayne Zoley, who says he follows "special healthcare protocols" when using pepper spray, and they know it causes some kind of illness, so they proactively treat. But admits he didn't know pepper spray could aggravate #COVID19 symptoms
#DetentionKills

@RepDonaldPayne Next up, throwing in a bunch of reports about CoreCivic's facility at #Eloy and giving Hininger "an opportunity to respond".

Respond to what? The dead guards? The sick detained immigrants? The lockdowns? The shortages?

Keep in mind, this man just denied using pepper spray.

@RepDonaldPayne Hininger says "less than 100" staff at #Eloy were positive as of last week.

Says CoreCivic can move staff between facilities because there's another ICE prison down the road.

Notes #COVID19 uptick in AZ without saying a word about detained immigrants.

#DetentionKills

@RepDonaldPayne Masks Required?
Hininger - All EEs req'd, Detained Migrants "encouraged"
Marquardt - masks req'd for everyone
Zoley - Same
Cooper - Same
#fourhorsemen
#DetentionKills

@RepLouCorrea asks #FourHorsemen about population levels pre-#Covid19.

They all say pop levels were down "seasonally" and because of asylum bans.

To @RepLouCorrea's question about "asking" detained immigrants to clean up their own areas,
Hininger admits CoreCivic requires people to clean up their living areas
Zoley says detained immigrants use disinfectants to clean all hard surfaces to clean housing areas.
Cooper agrees

GEO's CEO Zoley describes detainees' housekeeping responsibilities w/r/t #COVID19 protection. A federal judge found earlier this year that GEO's housekeeping
"responsibilities" likely violate the forced labor provisions of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act:

Pressed by @RepKathleenRice on his prior denial that any pepper spray or rubber bullets had been used since #COVID19, Hininger cops to using it at Torrance. Doesn't disclose that they also admitted using it at Stewart Detention Center, shot a man in a wheelchair
#DetentionKills

On to @RepTorresSmall - Asks MTC's Marquardt how it feels to be #5 in the country.
What are Top 3 reasons Otero has seen 150 cases of #COVID19. Marquardt begins by saying there's only 2 now. Then admits that the mass test roped in asymptomatic people. So now they're not testing

What a terrifying answer. '142 cases is only because we did a mass test, and we haven't done that again.'

This is life-or-death stuff. That answer basically prefers the risk of death over testing #DetentionKills #FourHorsemen

@RepTorresSmall is remaining "hopeful" that its Otero facility will remain full.

"It seems like MTC's profits depend on a high detainee population. Is that correct?"

Marquardt: It's an 1100-person facility. Numbers dropped to 300.

Torres Small presses on profits.

If Marquardt is right, and the "health and safety of our detainees" is MTC's highest priority, then the easiest way to ensure that is to #FreeThemAll @RepTorresSmall asks if Marquardt agrees that increasing population will help reduce #COVID19 risks.

#FourHorsemen

@RepMichaelGuest is thanking Damon Hininger for CoreCivic operating a facility in his District that has "taken very aggressive steps" to protect health and safety.

He apparently doesn't realize that asking CCA what they knew about #COVID19 and when is going to haunt them later

"Conversation earlier on about when inmates are transferred to a facility" - @RepMichaelGuest asks for more information from CoreCivic about protocols for the deadliest part of ICE's response to #COVID19: Transfers.
Hininger defers, again, to ICE; doesn't mention TransCor.

@RepYvetteClarke is dropping hot fire. "You must answer to the families of immigrants in your custody, who are not only worrying about immigrants in your custody, but also whether they'll ever see their loved ones again if ICE deports them, but whether they'll [catch #COVID19]

@RepYvetteClarke did what we must always do during #COVID19 : rely on the numbers.

Cooper - "We're also responsible to the Good Lord, and that's the one I feel responsible to the most." - apnews.com/618df9aa77288c…

In response to @RepYvetteClarke's question, Cooper is saying again that LaSalle's mass testing is the reason your numbers are higher. #DetentionKills

Next of the #FourHorsemen is Hininger describing CoreCivic's efforts, seemingly oblivious to the numbers at his facilities.

@RepYvetteClarke asks GEO's Zoley why the company had the infection rate at Montgomery ICE Processing Center.

He describes getting 45 Abbott Labs tests IN SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER.

SEP

TEM

BER

#DetentionKills

@RepYvetteClarke's question for Marquardt and MTC was why they were unable to control the spread of #COVID19.

Nobody answered.

#DetentionKills

@JacksonLeeTX18 up next for the #FourHorsemen hearing.
265k cases in TX. Over 3k deaths.

"What is social distancing to you? How do you space out the detainees?"
Hininger: Very important. Spacing
Zoley: Very similar. We're (did I mention?) less thn 50% capacity.
No N-95 masks.

@JacksonLeeTX18 Asks MTC's Marquardt if MTC is retesting negative EEs & detained immigrants is happening and what's happening for asymptomatic persons.

He explains that they're "the most difficult part of this equation" "Depends on facility" re re-testing. Says only 1 facility.

Cooper admits to @JacksonLeeTX18 that he doesn't have doctors at each facility.

She then asks Zoley to get back to her about the deaths at a facility in her District. He agrees to get back. #DetentionKills

New Q: Engaged w/ WH #COVID19 Task Force
Cooper - Hasn't been in touch

@JacksonLeeTX18 knows. #DetentionKills

@RepBarragan in strong contention for winning @ratemyskyperoom While at the same time getting Dr. Zoley and Hininger to commit to accept @JoaquinCastrotx's invitation to meet with @HispanicCaucus

Hininger doesn't commit.

Moves on to the federal court rulings in California and Florida and asks Zoley about decisions finding conditions at Adelanto and Broward at unconstitutionally deliberately indifferent. Zoley points the finger at ICE.

#DetentionKills
#fourhorsemen

@RepBarragan Asks about 15 women who came forward at LaSalle in April.

Zoley says he's "honestly not familiar with that" because "we have had hygiene and sanitation products available continuously."

thenation.com/article/politi…

Zoley denies personally receiving a request for denying hygiene.

Then says detainees send him letters. Perhaps he should get some more letters?

#FourHorsemen
#DetentionKills

Next up is @RepJoeNeguse. He's focusing primarily on GEO/Zoley and the company's Aurora facility.

Qs:
1. Zoley, will you commit to providing 24-hour advance notice to families of detainees. "I don't know if I have that ability." "I would have to look into ICE procedures"

@RepJoeNeguse asks Zoley about his knowledge of ICE's retaliatory transfers. Denies knowldge. Then cites 100-person transfer out of Aurora. Zoley unaware.

Turns to HDQ neutral and halt at GEO facilities insider.com/report-detenti…
Asks for commitment to stop using these chemicals.

Zoley:
"No I cannot. The HDQ product has been used at the Adelanto facility and other facilities for 9 years."
Neguse asks him to ensure they'll use HDQ as labeled. Zoley commits.

Whoa.
"Absolutely not." in response to @RepJoeNeguse's question of whether GEO has ever threatened or coerced detained immigrants to work under threat of solitary.
#DetentionKills

@RepKathleenRice gets the #FourHorsemen to commit to adding a page on their website updating daily the numbers of their employees who've tested positive for #COVID19.
All 4 commit to doing so IF ICE lets them. Your move, ICE.

@RepClayHiggins points out how hard it is to contact-trace folks in detention.

@RepKathleenRice asks if it's possible to do another hearing like this and says maybe ICE would have responded more affirmatively to @RepClayHiggins than her office. He says he's "had some indirect contact with ICE" about a hearing like this, and they're receptive to it.

So, ICE, per @RepClayHiggins, will show up if @RepKathleenRice shows up in person.

@RepKathleenRice enters statements of #DetentionKills family members into the record and keeps it open for 10 days.

If there's one thing being in these facilities and understanding how people are treated there has taught us, it's that the #FourHorsemen's words today are far less important than their actions. What matters is their record. The facts. The reality on the ground. #DetentionKills