NORCOR, fro m page 5
name said he was moved due to a court
date.
“They lose their files, they lose their
Bibles, they lose all kinds of shit in the
transfer,” said Gorge ICE Resistance’s
Schechtel. “We think that this is an
intentionally disruptive process that ICE
or GEO Group tends to do.”
Members of the coalition believe ICE
moved detainees to NORCOR to break up
a hunger strike by a reported 750
detainees at the Northwest Detention
Center in April. Brandenburg denies that
there even was a hunger strike among
ICE detainees at NORCOR. “They may
have missed five or six meals, but they
were supplementing that with
commissary food,” he says. “There really
wasn’t a hunger strike.”
“Oh, Jesus,” said the ACLU’s dos
Santos, when told of Brandenburg’s
words. “There was one person I was
literally terrified was going to die.”
According to PCUN’s Ramirez,
detainees in Tacoma’s detention center
are continuing to hunger strike.
Dos Santos and others opposing
NORCOR’s holding of ICE detainees
believe some detainees may be retaliated
against by ICE, The GEO Group or
NORCOR, even if there’s not enough
evidence to make a legal case.
“We’ve heard of that,” dos Santos said.
“It’s hard to connect all of the dots. But
it certainly sounds like people are being
treated differently based on how
outspoken they are.”
“There has been retaliation — there’s
been retaliation in Tacoma, there’s been
retaliation at NORCOR,” Schechtel said.
“They tell us that the guards verbally
abuse them more, ignore their requests
more.”
The physical moves, limited publicly
available information about inmates and
the extreme difficulty required in
interviewing a willing detainee could be
seen as interfering with Lujan-Gonzales’
First Amendment rights to free speech.
And they are practically invisible to the
from ICE we would be at a loss to pay for
general public. Visiting clergy members
the operations of NORCOR,” he said.
are the only people besides attorneys
NORCOR receives $80 per day for
permitted in-person visits.
each ICE detainee, records confirmed by
Family members are permitted weekly
Brandenburg show, a contract that ends
60-minute video calls, but as the ACLU’s
in 2018 and Brandenburg said “needs to
letter notes, even children are not
be renegotiated.”
permitted face-to-face time with their
Brandenburg says NORCOR has held
parents.
as many as 80 detainees and as few as
Stevens says that he has been
five, and averages around 20. At 20
impressed with how detainees work to
detainees average and $80 per day,
help one another stick
NORCOR brings
together and avoid
in $584,000 per
“bullying” from
year from ICE.
corrections officers
Recent ballot
inside NORCOR, but it’s " I f s f o is if I® w o rk out
measures aimed
tough.
( fla a a c la llj^ t a i s t l l f II we
at shoring up
“One guy that I’ve
d l & f t h a w the saeaej fro m
NORCOR’s
been meeting with since I C I we w o u ld be at a loss
failing budget
May just got deported
t® pay fo r the operations of
with a new tax
this morning,” Stevens
have narrowly
KO BC O B/r
said. “I thought he was
missed passage.
going to hold out for a
Earlier this
while, but I guess he
N O R C O R A D M IN IS T R A T O R
year, a regional
just gave up. People do
jail tax rate
give up.”
measure was
defeated by a
razor-thin
ORCOR needs money. In the long
margin of 14 votes, The Dalles Chronicle
run, ICE holds might not be enough.
reports. Brandenburg said another bond
NORCOR’s roots go back to 1993 and
measure may come to voters again in
efforts by officials in Wasco, Hood River,
April next year, and his preference would
Sherman and Gilliam counties to
be to pay for NORCOR’s operations with
combine efforts to fund a regional jail
that would address the lack of jail beds in taxes, not ICE money.
Some in the Gorge wonder if all the
the area. According to the jail’s website,
b ad publicity NO RCOR is g e ttin g from
it books 3,000 offenders per year, and its
th e p ro te s ts , legal a c tio n s an d m ed ia
costs are borne by Wasco (50 percent),
coverage might not hurt the chances of
Hood River (40 percent), and Sherman
passing the next bond measure to
and Gilliam (5 percent each).
support its operations.
For 2017, NORCOR’s yearly
“NORCOR is walking a really fine line
operational costs are $6.2 million, while
in order to be on the good side of people
current combined county subsidies are
who will wish them financial well-being,”
only $3.8 million. The facility has
Boonstra said. “The more it gets out that
contracts that bring in some additional
the conditions are deplorable, that
money, but it still runs a yearly deficit
taxpayer money is being used for this
close to $1 million, according to
purpose, the next time a bond comes to
Brandenburg.
the taxpayers, there’s going to be a lot
“It’s going to work out (financially),
more resistance.”
but still, if we didn’t have the money
N
o
The Get Away
by Jaison Kirk
On my way to pick up a new lady friend
My nerves alive and on fire
Thinking of the near future. Will I say the
Right things? What will conspire?
Over the phone we planned a trip
And a meal in the park
Planning the day together while apart
Both hoping love will spark.
On our way we make final plans
And a trip to the store
Digging the vibe of this new
Affair, I hope I’m not a bore *
Making small talk and discoveries
As we walk the aisles
People around us can tell the newness
And we gather smiles.
Sandwiches, soft drinks, dessert, and
A loaf of bread to feed the birds.
As we relax on a blanket sharing
The day, food and words.
Together we break bread for
The birds and enjoy the show.
When the afternoon light
Grows long we pack up and go.
More comfortable by now with
Hands and eyes we start to flirt
Dropping the girl off with a kiss
Alive on fire at full alert.
As her door closes my head
Is sp in n in g an d I feel d azed
Feeling hopeful, finding a new
Friend to love. I am amazed.
ib e fta
C E N T R A L C IT Y
C O FFEE
well. £)& (pod.
BOARD ELECTIONS
OCT 9, 2017
6:30-7PM
YOUR
meeting
7“S
election meeting
M ontavila I United M ethodist Church
232 SE 80th Ave. Portland, Oregon
¡a
montavillapdx.org
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