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INS DETAINEES SUE DETENTION FACILTY FOR CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Two asylum seekers who have been detained at the INS Elizabeth (NJ) Detention Center have filed a lawsuit against the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the private firm entrusted with running the facility.  The asylum seekers, Oluwole Aboyade or Nigeria and Salah Dafali of Gaza, in the Palestinian Territories, claim the guards and staff at the facility have repeatedly beaten them and subjected them to other inappropriate treatment in violation of their civil rights.  The suit claims that the abusive practices at this facility stem from the corporate policy of CCA to use abuse and threats to maintain order at their facilities. 
The Elizabeth Detention Center has been under scrutiny for the treatment of detainees before.  In 1995, the facility was shut down following a riot involving more than 100 detainees.  In 1997 it reopened under the management of CCA.  While the INS pledged to make the reopened facility a national model, problems have continued to plague it.  There have been numerous hunger strikes by detainees, and a death thought to be a suicide.  These problems have led to many changes in top management at the facility, as well as increased INS presence there.  This year, the INS has 15 officers there, up from seven the year before.  
The FBI investigated conditions at the facility last year, but decided not to pursue the matter further.  The Department of Justice is also investigating claims of abuse by detainees.  CCA, the largest for-profit prison corporation in the US, has been sued on many occasions for allegedly improper treatment of prisoners.