The Oklahoma Department of Corrections helped fast-track the reopening of a long-shuttered private prison in rural western Oklahoma as an immigration detention facility.
CoreCivic is projected to earn about $100 million a year from running Diamondback. And the Department of Corrections will receive almost $10 million a year from the federal government to monitor CoreCivic’s compliance with its contract with ICE and to perform “other administrative functions.” But the state agency won’t answer questions about its responsibilities in overseeing the facility.
Meanwhile, detainees and attorneys have reported issues with staffing, medical care and access to lawyers at Diamondback. A spokeswoman for ICE said in a statement to The Frontier that the federal agency also monitors conditions at Diamondback for compliance with detention standards. CoreCivic said in an emailed statement that it operates its facilities in compliance with all applicable contractual requirements and standards.
“The safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care at the Diamondback facility are top priorities,” a spokesperson for the company said.
Five takeaways from our Diamondback investigation
Here are five takeaways from The Frontier‘s reporting:
Several experts told The Frontier that by signing service agreements with local governments, federal agencies can often bypass competitive bidding and contracting requirements. Intergovernmental service agreements have fewer requirements and need less documentation than other contracts, according to a 2021 report from a federal watchdog. ICE is also not required to formally evaluate the past performance of detention facility operators when it awards intergovernmental service agreements.
The Department of Corrections used an exemption in state law for deals with private prison companies, allowing the agency to avoid a competitive bid process when it contracted with CoreCivic.
The Department of Corrections could eventually look to buy Diamondback from CoreCivic. The Department of Corrections’ contract with the private company also gives the state agency the right to purchase or lease Diamondback before anyone else. One government contracting expert said the Department of Corrections monitoring a private company that it could do business with is an “extremely serious conflict of interest.”
Facility employees, two immigration lawyers and a former detainee told The Frontier that immigrants arriving at the facility sometimes have to wait days to be entered into the facility’s online system. In the meantime, they’ve sometimes been confined to holding cells or slept on mats on the floor, unable to contact families or lawyers, or access needed medication.
A Department of Corrections official said at a September board meeting that ICE hadn’t paid the state agency or CoreCivic since April. The Department of Corrections, CoreCivic, and ICE didn’t respond to reporters’ questions about the reason for the delay.
Ari Fife interned at The Frontier and was hired by the outlet in 2023. She covers politics and social issues. She can be reached at Ari@readfrontier.com