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70°

Center of Detention: Northwest Detention Center

MAIN SERIES

A rare look inside Tacoma's Northwest Detention Center

CENTER OF DETENTION, PART 1: The building could be any other industrial warehouse on Tacoma’s Tideflats, if it weren’t for the razor wire surrounding it. The man could be any other middle-aged father living in Pierce County, if he weren’t facing deportation. An immigration lockup. An illegal immigrant. Two lives intertwined by a common, tangled thread: U.S. immigration policy.

An immigrant finds the American dream – and loses it

CENTER OF DETENTION, PART II: After years in the US, Oscar Campos Estrada finds himself on ICE radar. Meanwhile, the deportation business booms at the Northwest Detention Center.

Illegal immigrant out of jail and into deportation process

CENTER OF DETENTION, PART III: Two decades after he illegally slipped over the U.S. border from Mexico, Oscar Campos Estrada’s life as an illegal immigrant finally catches up to him. Meanwhile, the expanding Northwest Detention Center becomes a flashpoint in the immigration debate.

The complicated world of immigration law

CENTER OF DETENTION, PART IV: Illegal aliens can use a number of strategies to stay in the U.S., but most have considerable hurdles.

A glimmer of hope for former NWDC inmate

CENTER OF DETENTION, PART V: Oscar Campos Estrada, an undocumented Mexican national living near Tacoma, has bounced between life’s personal milestones and a pending procedural reality since his release on bond a year ago from the Northwest Detention Center.

SLIDESHOW

Detention center houses few serious criminals

Expediency rules in immigration court

Class action suit seeks to give detainees with mental disabilities the right to counsel

'Center of Detention': How we got the story

IMMIGRANTS' STORIES

Immigrant's story: Fear drives ex-soldier to sneak into US

Immigrant's Story: Old deportation order creates life in limbo

Immigrant's Story: Enforcement separates mother from children

Immigrant's Story: 'I'm going to fight to stay here'

Immigrant's Story: Kirkland family hopes new policy will save them from deportation

VIDEO

TIMELINE

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Jan. 1, 1987

NW Detention Center

Federal report finds Seattle's regional Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) detention facility needs $20 million of seismic improvements.

Jan. 1, 1989

NW Detention Center

Florida-based Esmor Correctional Services., predecessor to Correctional Services Corp. (CSC), wins federal INS contract to provide private detention operations for Seattle immigration detention facility.

Jul. 1, 2005

NW Detention Center

Florida-based global corrections corporation, The GEO Group, announces plans to buy out CSC.

Feb. 1, 1991

Oscar Campos Estrada

Seventeen-year-old Oscar Campos Estrada illegally crosses U.S. border near San Ysidro, CA with girlfriend and family members and later settles in Pierce County.

Sep. 1, 2011

Oscar Campos Estrada

Oscar's family puts up $10,000 bond to get him released.

Jan. 1, 1992

Oscar Campos Estrada

INS agents arrest Oscar outside of East Tacoma tienda, later releasing him after he signs a voluntary departure agreement.

Jan. 1, 2009

NW Detention Center

GEO agrees to enter into "voluntary clean-up plan" due to covenant violation, but admits no wrongdoing. Activists' appeal seeking to halt NWDC's expansion fails.

Sep. 1, 1992

Oscar Campos Estrada

Petition seeking family-based green card eligibility filed by Oscar's father is received by the INS.

Apr. 1, 2004

NW Detention Center

Local dignitaries tour the new 500-bed NWDC; Bill of Rights Defense Committee-Tacoma holds first protest outside of the detention center; first immigrant detainees are booked into the NWDC.

Jan. 1, 1996

NW Detention Center

CSC begins searching for site to build new detention facility in Northwest in anticipation of a new federal contract.

May 1, 2008

NW Detention Center

GEO's consultant notifies city about plans to construct a 105,000-square foot expansion of NWDC. Tacoma City Attorney Elizabeth Pauli advises City Council the facility is designated an "essential public facility" under state law, meaning city's land use codes cannot preclude the proposed expansion.

Apr. 1, 1996

Federal Policy

President Clinton signs into law two new bills – The Anti Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act and the Illegal Immigration Report and Immigrant Responsibility Act – broadening authority to detain and deport certain immigrants.

Oct. 1, 2009

NW Detention Center

Interim contract ends; DHS awards new contract for expanded immigration detention services in the Northwest region to GEO for up to 5 years and $260 million.

Jan. 1, 1998

Oscar Campos Estrada

Salvador Campos Domingo, Oscar's lawful permanent resident father, submits another petition on unmarried son's behalf so that Oscar can one day obtain a green card.

Jul. 7, 2012

NW Detention Center

Nearly 83,000 detainees have passed through the NWDC, with nearly 52,000 deported.

Nov. 1, 1998

Oscar Campos Estrada

Oscar marries Maria-Guadalupe, his longtime girlfriend and mother of his three children.

Mar. 1, 2005

Oscar Campos Estrada

Oscar is arrested for rape and assault charges.

Jan. 1, 1999

NW Detention Center

INS issues public bidding request for privately run detention facility within 25 miles of Sea-Tac Airport that can house up to 500-immigrant detainees. Notice cites size limitations and seismic issues with existing facility in Seattle.

Jul. 1, 2006

NW Detention Center

GEO and DHS agree to contract modification to reconfigure existing space at NWDC to add 300 beds, raising detention capacity to 800-beds.

Jan. 15, 1999

NW Detention Center

After siting efforts fail in Auburn, Pacific and Sumner, CSC buys options on two properties on Tacoma's Tideflats – an area prone to liquefaction during earthquakes – while preparing to bid for new federal immigration detention contract. • Tacoma city attorneys advise City Council that proposed detention center meets Port area's industrial zoning provisions as a "correctional facility."

Sep. 1, 2008

NW Detention Center

City of Tacoma issues permits for NWDC expansion project.

Jan. 30, 1999

NW Detention Center

Tacoma city attorneys advise City Council that proposed detention center meets Port area's industrial zoning provisions as a "correctional facility."

Jun. 1, 2009

NW Detention Center

GEO submits formal bid for expanded facility.

Mar. 1, 1999

Oscar Campos Estrada

INS approves two green card eligibility petitions submitted by Salvador Campos on behalf of Oscar, but Oscar's marriage invalidates his eligibility status.

Apr. 1, 2011

Oscar Campos Estrada

Tacoma police officer stops Oscar for cracked windshield, arrests him for driving with a suspended license. ICE officials place immigration hold on Oscar in Pierce County Jail.

Mar. 1, 2000

NW Detention Center

Tacoma City Council unanimously approves a non-binding resolution sponsored by Councilman Kevin Phelps to support proposed detention center's construction on East J Street, citing economic development benefits to city.

May 1, 2012

NW Detention Center

City and county officials acknowledge The GEO Group has never obtained required written agreements with local authorities spelling out emergency plans at the NWDC.

Jun. 1, 2000

NW Detention Center

A required public meeting about the detention center project and the two building sites under consideration draws no attendees.

Mar. 1, 2004

NW Detention Center

Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell learns from NWDC Warden George Wigen that CSC is contractually obligated to have written agreements with local authorities about certain emergency situations. Drafts are worked on, but never signed.

Jul. 1, 2000

NW Detention Center

Phelps sends letter to INS officials, ensuring "expedient permitting process" for East J Street site, but vows to oppose siting at Taylor Way.

Jan. 1, 2005

Oscar Campos Estrada

Oscar's estranged wife accuses him of rape during a domestic dispute.

Oct. 1, 2000

NW Detention Center

City issues "Determination of Non-Significance" for East J Street site under required State Environmental Policy Act review.

May 1, 2005

Oscar Campos Estrada

Oscar pleads guilty to misdemeanor assault; rape charge is dropped. He is released from jail on time served, without transfer to ICE.

Feb. 1, 2001

NW Detention Center

Draft of National Environmental Policy Act Final Environmental Impact Statement selects Taylor Way property as the preferred site to build a new detention center, finding historic contamination at East J Street site presents "an undefined risk."

Nov. 1, 2005

NW Detention Center

GEO takes over federal contract and operations at the NWDC.

Mar. 1, 2001

NW Detention Center

Phelps and May 1or Mike Crowley warn the City will fight project unless detention center is built at East J Street site; Congressmen Norm Dicks and Adam Smith raise concerns to INS, asking agency to hold off on final siting recommendation.

Jan. 1, 2007

NW Detention Center

NWDC's capacity is expanded again, to 1,000 beds.

Jun. 1, 2001

NW Detention Center

Final NEPA EIS indicates no site preference for detention center project.

Jul. 1, 2008

NW Detention Center

DHS issues "sources sought announcement" – first public notice about need to expand Northwest region's detention operations; in response, GEO submits detailed expansion plan nearly identical to the eventual solicitation's specifications.

Sep. 11, 2001

Federal Policy

Terrorist attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon kill nearly 3,000 people.

Dec. 1, 2008

NW Detention Center

Activists alert officials GEO's construction crew has violated a restrictive covenant by boring into environmentally sensitive site without obtaining prior approval from Washington Department of Ecology.

Oct. 26, 2001

Federal Policy

President Bush signs into law federal Patriot Act, further broadening authority to detain and deport certain illegal immigrants.

Apr. 1, 2009

NW Detention Center

The NWDC's federal contract expires; DHS awards 6-month interim contract while expansion continues. DHS issues formal public request for proposals, calling for expanded detention services to house up to 1,575 detainees in the Northwest.

Dec. 1, 2001

NW Detention Center

INS administrator issues final Record of Decision supporting the East J Street site for construction of the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC).

Sep. 1, 2009

NW Detention Center

GEO completes NWDC expansion, raising capacity to 1,575 beds.

Jul. 1, 2002

NW Detention Center

INS awards contract of up to 5 years and $115.4 million to CSC, calling to lease up to 500-beds from company's soon-to-be-built private detention center in Tacoma.

Jul. 1, 2010

Oscar Campos Estrada

U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs sends letter to Oscar, telling him that he is now eligible to legally seek adjustment of immigration status under petition submitted for him in 1992; Oscar doesn't recall receiving it.

Nov. 1, 2002

Federal Policy

Federal Homeland Security Act enacted, replacing INS with Department of Homeland Security.

Aug. 1, 2011

Oscar Campos Estrada

Oscar completes four-month jail term and is transferred to the NWDC to face deportation proceedings.

Jan. 1, 2003

NW Detention Center

Phelps sends letter citing "City of Tacoma's continued support" for detention center project to state finance authority, helping CSC's financing application meet a local support requirement.

Dec. 1, 2011

NW Detention Center

WEDFA issues $54.5 million in nonrecourse bonds to reimburse GEO for 2009 expansion.

Apr. 1, 2003

NW Detention Center

Washington Economic Development Finance Authority (WEDFA) issues $57.4 million in nonrecourse revenue bonds, allowing reduced-cost financing for CSC's construction of detention center.

Jul. 1, 2012

Oscar Campos Estrada

Oscar obtains federal work permit and Social Security card to help him obtain legal employment in the U.S. while awaiting deportation proceedings.

Jun. 1, 2003

Federal Policy

DHS' Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Office of Deportation and Removal (DRO) institute Endgame, a 10-year plan to deport "all removable aliens" living in the U.S.by 2012.