"Two-day uprising at immigrant prison was ‘predictable,’ reform advocates say", 22 Feb 2015

Prison-reform advocates say they’re not at all surprised by an uprising at a Texas prison [Willacy County Correctional Center] that has forced the relocation of some 2,800 detained immigrants... The inmates were reportedly protesting medical care at the facility, which is part of a little-known network of 13 prisons designated for immigrants...[all] run by private companies, a fact advocates for immigration and prison reform say results in a second-class system with insufficient oversight... Carl Takei, a staff attorney at the ACLU who visited the facility in 2013...[said] inmates described “vermin and insects”...[in] tents, overflowing toilets, along with severe overcrowding.  Issa Arnita, a spokesperson for...Management and Training Corporation (MTC), said that they “believe offenders receive timely, quality health care,” noting that their health services have been accredited by two independent associations... Read Fusion’s full investigation into the second-class [privatised] prison system for immigrants at Fusion.net/shadow-prisons