NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee today sent a letter to Town of Mason officials demanding they immediately stop all actions related to contracts with CoreCivic and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to operate an immigration detention facility. The letter states that the town failed to approve the ICE contract according to the terms of its charter.
At a meeting on August 12, the Mason Board of Mayor and Alderman voted on the contract to bring a for-profit ICE detention center to the town. More than 150 Mason residents and their neighbors across Fayette, Tipton, and Shelby counties spoke out and protested, warning of the disruption that CoreCivic and an ICE detention center would bring. With seven aldermen present, the vote was 3-2 in favor, with two members abstaining.
According to the Town of Mason’s own charter, passing any action requires a “majority of the members present.” With seven members present, a majority requires four votes. The contract only received three.
“This is a simple matter of following the rules: those in favor of the ICE contract needed a majority of votes to win — and they didn’t have it,” said Stella Yarbrough, legal director for the ACLU of Tennessee. “Officials cannot ignore their own laws to push through a harmful contract that will generate $30 million in corporate profits for a for-profit prison company. An abstention is not a ‘yes’ vote. We are demanding that Mayor Noeman and the Board acknowledge this vote failed and immediately halt this illegal arrangement.”
The letter demands that town officials:
- Confirm that the contract with ICE was not legally approved.
- Immediately cease all activities related to both the ICE and CoreCivic contracts.
- Provide a written response within seven calendar days.
The ACLU of Tennessee also submitted a public records request for all communications and documents between town officials and representatives of CoreCivic and ICE, as well as information on the impact the arrangement would have on town infrastructure and utilities.
“Tennesseans deserve transparency and accountability from their elected officials, not illegitimate deals that endanger our communities. That transparency was completely absent in Mason, where the contract was kept from the public and even from the aldermen themselves until the moment of the vote.” said Phyllida Burlingame, interim executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee.
“For-profit detention centers have a track record of abuse and neglect. We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure our leaders are held accountable and that Mason does not become home to an unjust, for-profit immigration prison,” she added.
The ACLU-TN will have a virtual media avail on Friday at 3 p.m. If your organization is interested in attending, please email communications@aclu-tn.org for the link.
A copy of the full letter can be found https://live-aclu-tennessee.pantheonsite.io/sites/default/files/letter_t...
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