"The Dilley Immigration Processing Center - formerly known as the South Texas Family Residential Center - shares an enormous desert parcel near Dolph Briscoe Unit state prison and Crescent Energy. Dilley used to grow 25 million pounds of watermelon a year and call itself "the watermelon capital of Texas." Now it's a carceral town, specializing in immigrant children detained with their families by ICE."
"A few years ago, the Frio-Nueces Current called the center "an internment camp." CoreCivic operators immediately called the editor and told him not to call it that. The editor pushed back, asking where he was confused. Was it not "a camp - being made up largely of temporary structures? ... Were the people behind its fences interned?""
"The CoreCivic employees stop me when I turn off Highway 85 onto the road to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center. The men are gleaming, barrel chested, with huge thighs, good haircuts, and matching blue polo shirts, as they step out of their white SUV into the not yet kiln-hot air. Could I drive up to the parking lot and observe the goings-on there? No, I could not."
The Dilley Immigration Processing Center, operated by CoreCivic, is a detention facility located on desert land near Dolph Briscoe Unit state prison in Dilley, Texas. The town, formerly known for watermelon production, has transformed into a carceral community. The facility detains immigrant children alongside their families under ICE authority. Access to the center is strictly controlled by armed CoreCivic security personnel. The facility has been described as an internment camp by local media, though CoreCivic disputed this characterization. Recent incidents include two detainees escaping, prompting law enforcement pursuit with dogs.
Read at Intelligencer
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