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Immigration detainees at the Eloy federal contract prison.

Lawyers for immigrant detainees at federal correctional centers in Arizona, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida say the federal government is illegally preventing them from effectively communicating with their clients. Read more»

A protester outside of an immigration detention facility in Eloy in April 2020.

A 36-year-old Mexican man collapsed and died Friday morning while in custody at a facility managed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Florence, Ariz., officials said. Read more»

Arizona carried out its first execution in seven years Wednesday morning, lethally injecting Clarence Dixon with pentobarbital for the killing of 21-year-old ASU student Deana Bowdoin in 1978, less than a day after Dixon’s final appeal was denied. Read more»

The recent Prison Fellowship Angel Tree Sports Camp at Arizona’s Central Christian Church in Mesa gave the children of incarcerated parents a place to share common interests and feel safe.

With about 11% of children in Arizona having an incarcerated parent, the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree Sports Camp seeks to transform the lives of prisoners, care for their families and advocate for a justice system that works to help individuals change their ways. Read more»

LPCC staff firing pepper spray and chemical agents at detainees in an LPCC housing area on April 13, 2020.

A privately run ICE immigration detention site in Eloy, Ariz, "threatened the health, safety, and rights" of migrants, said a federal watchdog agency that found violations of standards, including an incident in which peacefully protesting detainees were pepper-sprayed last year. Read more»

A flock of birds flies over the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona on April 10, 2020.

A private prison in Florence, Ariz., that houses more than 3,000 defendants awaiting court proceedings is grappling with an outbreak of COVID-19 in which at least 20 jail staff and detainees have tested positive. Read more»

The Florence Prison Complex has the highest number of COVID-19 infections in the corrections department and is where an inmate on death row died of complications from the disease, according to his attorney. Critics say prison officials have not done enough to check the spread of the disease inside the system.

As many as four inmates may have died from COVID-19, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections, which critics charge is not doing enough to protect prisoners and guards from infection in the tight quarters of a prison. Read more»

The places in Arizona with the least access to health care are correctional facilities.

Three Arizona correctional facilities all have high ratings for lack of access to health care and advocacy groups in the state are concerned the situation will worsen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more»

The La Palma Correctional Facility in Eloy, Ariz., houses U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees and is managed by CoreCivic, a private detention center company.

98 immigrant detainees at the La Palma Correctional Center in Arizona have been “cohorted” together, due to their exposure to the facility’s first confirmed case of COVID-19. Read more»

Protestors drive by and honk their horns outside of the Eloy Detention Center, a private immigration detention facility in Eloy, Arizona on Friday, April 10, 2020.

An ICE detention center in Eloy is the latest facility to have a string of complaints raised by detainees as COVID-19 fills hospitals and strains the nation’s health care system. Read more»

With a makeshift collection of protective gear, immigration attorney Margarita Silva arrives at an Arizona ICE detention facility on March 20 to meet a client.

Nearly a month into a seemingly worldwide shutdown, it may be hard to find an everyday business or public area that has not been closed because of COVID-19. Many companies have allowed their employees to work from home, but businesses deemed essential are still in operation. This includes grocery stores, fuel stations, banks, transportation systems, pharmacies – and most U.S. immigration courts. Read more»

Asylum seekers, most from Central America and Mexico, wait in line at the Kino Border Initiative's 'comedor' or soup kitchen in Nogales, Sonora in January.

A second person had been diagnosed with coronavirus at the La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, north of Tucson, authorities said Monday. Read more»

Asylum seekers, most from Central America and Mexico, wait in line at the Kino Border Initiative's 'comedor' or soup kitchen in Nogales, Sonora in January.

Calling immigration detention facilities "tinderboxes on the verge of explosion" because of COVID-19, a coalition of immigration advocacy groups asked a federal judge to order the immediate release of eight people held by ICE in Arizona. Read more»

The logo for Corrections Corporation of America, now known as CoreCivic, hangs over the front gate of a prison complex in Eloy, where unauthorized immigrants are held under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A Mexican man died at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Florence, Ariz., on Wednesday; he was found unconscious and not breathing. Two days earlier, Abel Reyes-Clemente, 54, was put under medical observation for "signs and symptoms" of the flu, ICE said. Read more»

The Buick sedan that crashed into a Chevy Suburban on State Route 79 late Wednesday night, killing eight people, including four men from Guatemala who were in the country illegally.

Officials have identified four of the people killed in a head-on crash Wednesday when a car crossed the yellow line and collided with a Chevy Suburban. The SUV's driver and a passenger, who were killed, had previously been convicted of assisting illegal immigrants. Read more» 1

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