The Federal Government’s Own Inspectors Said Get Everyone Out
In March 2022, the DHS Office of Inspector General did something it almost never does. It issued a management alert calling for the immediate removal of every person detained at the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, New Mexico. The inspectors found conditions so dangerous they could not wait for a normal report cycle.
ICE ignored the recommendation. The facility never closed. By 2025, ICE was sending more people there.
What Inspectors Found
The OIG conducted an unannounced inspection in February 2022. The full report documented 14 standards violations. Here is what your tax dollars were paying for:
| Finding | Detail |
|---|---|
| Staffing | 54% of positions filled. 112 vacancies. Posts left unmanned. |
| Plumbing | 53% of cells (83 of 157) had broken toilets or plumbing failures |
| Drinking water | People forced to drink from communal sinks meant for mop buckets |
| Medical care | Failed ICE detention standards for health services |
| Mold | Extensive growths and water leaks throughout the facility |
| Legal access | Detainees could not reach lawyers or use the law library |
That means more than half the cells in this facility had plumbing so broken that people were living with sewage. CoreCivic, the private prison company that owns and operates Torrance, was being paid to provide conditions that its own client’s inspector general called unacceptable.
Someone Died Here
Five months after the OIG management alert, a 23-year-old Brazilian asylum seeker named Kesley Vial died by suicide at Torrance after spending nearly fourteen weeks detained — more than twice the average length of stay. He had received what investigators called inappropriate mental health care. In January 2026, CoreCivic settled the wrongful death suit rather than face trial.
Less than four months after Vial’s death, another man attempted suicide by hanging at the same facility.
The People Inside Are Telling You
In April 2026, roughly 200 people detained at Torrance signed a collective statement sent to the Albuquerque Journal:
“Today we raise our voices not as numbers, not as statistics, but as what we truly are: human beings. What we are experiencing is something else: a system that has turned human suffering into a business model.”
— Collective statement signed by approximately 200 detainees at TCDF, April 2026
Their specific complaints included drinking water delivered only twice a day in small containers, sewage flooding, racist mistreatment by guards, and retaliation against anyone who spoke up.
New Mexico Passed a Law and CoreCivic Found a Loophole
In February 2026, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the Immigrant Safety Act (HB9), which bans county governments from contracting with ICE to operate detention facilities. The law takes effect May 20, 2026.
Torrance County responded by extending its ICE contract the morning after the state senate voted to pass the ban. The county commission meeting lasted about two minutes.
Now CoreCivic is negotiating a direct contract with ICE that would cut Torrance County out entirely. Because HB9 only prohibits county contracts, a direct deal between a private company and a federal agency would sidestep the law. New Mexico legislators have warned that counties defying the bill could face legal action.
What You Can Do
- Contact your members of Congress and ask them to support independent oversight of ICE detention facilities. Use the Immigration hub for current action links.
- Support the Innovation Law Lab, which has led legal advocacy and documentation at Torrance for years. Their facility page tracks every development.
- Follow the HB9 loophole fight. If CoreCivic signs a direct contract with ICE, legal challenges will follow. The New Mexico state page will track updates.
- Share the detainees’ own words. The collective statement signed by 200 people is the most direct evidence of what is happening inside.
- Ask your state legislature whether private prison companies operate ICE detention facilities in your state and whether your state law covers direct federal-to-private contracts.