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Immigration prison guards face sanction
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Posted on Feb 03 1999
Concerned over the escape of four Chinese nationals from a detention run by the Department of Labor and Immigration, Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio said yesterday appropriate action should be taken against officers manning the facility if proven that they had been remissed of their duty.
Three immigration employees guarding the immigration detention at the time the illegal aliens fled are under investigation amid allegations of payoff.
Labor and Immigration Secretary Mark D. Zachares has shut down the detention in Koblerville Friday and moved its nine detainees, mostly Chinese, to the Department of Public Safety jail until their deportation.
According to the governor, Zachares had informed him last week of the incident as well as plans to close the detention temporarily due to lack of staff properly trained to guard the corrections.
“I don’t want to point fingers because it’s still under investigation. But if it was caused by negligence by our staff something has to be done,” Tenorio said.
The detainees are still at large after they fled the facility early last week allegedly with the aid of three immigration employees who were manning the detention.
According to administration sources, the illegal aliens managed to break out after they allegedly paid an undetermined amount of money to detention guards, but Zachares refused to comment on the bribery allegations pending completion of the investigation.
“I am not happy with the escape of the detainees,” Zachares said, “Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, this should not be occurring.”
In 1997 eight detainees broke out from the poorly-secured detention located in Koblerville by shattering window panes. No escapees have been recaptured by DOLI and none of the immigration officers on-duty at the time of the escape have been reprimanded.
