Former La Tuna employee raises concerns over federal prison’s closure and layoffs
ANTHONY, Texas (KVIA) — A local person with knowledge of the operations at La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution, who asked to remain anonymous, is speaking out about the recent announcement that six Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities will close across the country, including the one in Anthony, Texas.
The former employee told ABC-7 that La Tuna needs approximately 250 staff members to be fully staffed; right now, he said, they have around 230.
“From what I know, they (employees and staff members) were not aware of it; it just came as a surprise during a recall where the director came to La Tuna and all the staff were called to the training center, and they were given the bad news that they were going to close it down,” said the former employee. “Their excuse was infrastructure damage and staff shortages bureau-wide.”
“Some of these staff members are going to have to bear the cost of transferring out; they’re (BOP) not going to pay for their moving expenses. They were supposedly promised severance pay, but that’s not a guarantee,” he added.
The Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said earlier this month they are closing the facilities to address decades of deferred maintenance and extreme staffing challenges.
According to Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), the proper agencies in charge of these facilities go to the House to ask Representatives for funding every appropriations period.
“This is when they have the opportunity to be transparent with us about any plans that they might have, about any issues that they have and that is the normal part of the appropriations process,” said Rep. Escobar. “After the appropriations process was complete and during which the Bureau of Prisons never said a word to me or to any of the appropriators as we were drafting our appropriations bills and providing them with money, never once did they inform us of their plan to shut down several prisons, including one that would impact El Paso constituents of mine who go to work and have devoted their lives to federal public service.”
According to Rep. Escobar, the employees also did not get a sufficient heads-up that the facility was closing. She also says there are several contractors currently doing business with the Bureau of Prisons.
“The Bureau of Prisons received significant funding last year that was intended to help repair older properties, older jails, and would have addressed the infrastructure issues that La Tuna faces,” Rep. Escobar added.
“These agencies have to be responsive to Congress; we fund them, we hold the purse strings, we’re the ones who give the money,” Rep. Escobar added. “They have an obligation, not just to inform us, but to answer our questions and I have not gotten answers to my questions yet from the Bureau of Prisons; that is unacceptable.”
The main concern of both staff and local leaders is knowing the fate of the property and what will happen to the inmates currently detained at La Tuna, since many of them have lawyers relatively close by, but for those who do not, Representative Escobar wonders how they will have access to legal advice and what the future holds for their cases.
“I also suspect that they (US government) are going to privatize some of these prison jobs,” Rep. Escobar added. “What we have seen with the Trump administration is that he has awarded contracts to his biggest donors, and there’s been massive corruption that is occurring in broad daylight.”
“I am very deeply concerned that some of these prison jobs are not just going to be privatized, but that the contracts will be given to basically Trump donors,” Rep. Escobar also said. “We also are very concerned that La Tuna may be used for other purposes, like immigration detention, that will also potentially be privatized, as we’ve seen more privatization of immigration detention, which is part of the problem with what we’ve seen at Camp East Montana.”
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