Thousands of Prisoners at Texas Detention Center to be Relocated
As many as 2,800 prisoners being held at a federal detention facility in Raymondville, Texas will need to be moved to a new facility after demonstrations that began there on Friday, Reuters reports. Officials said that the prison had been rendered "uninhabitable."
According to Reuters, the prison is run by Management & Training Corp, a private contractor, and is primarily used to hold immigrants who have entered the United States illegally. The disturbance began on Friday, the Associated Press reports, "when inmates refused to eat breakfast and complained about medical services at the facility."
"Correctional officers used non-lethal force, tear gas, to attempt to control the unruly offenders," Management & Training Corp spokesman Issa Arnita said in the statement.
Reuters reports that inmates broke out of the housing structures—huge kevlar domes, also called "tents"—and set them on fire.
[Photo credit: AP Images]